


The War of The Roses

by Anastaezja



Series: Picking Up the Pieces [3]
Category: The Order (TV 2019)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drama & Romance, F/M, Magic, Set after Season 2, Surprises, Werewolves, almost canon compliant, ideas for season 3, vermish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:07:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25132876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anastaezja/pseuds/Anastaezja
Summary: Will Vera regain her magic? Is Praxis still a threat? What will happen to The Order and The Knight's of St. Christopher? Who will become an Alpha? What will happen to Lilith? What is Jack going to do with the Vade Maecum Infernal...? /set after season 2/Narrated by Vera and Hamish, mostly (vermish <3). Picks up right after the 'Superwoman'.The third part of 'Picking Up the Pieces' series.
Relationships: Alyssa Drake/Jack Morton, Hamish Duke/Vera Stone, Randall Carpio/Gabrielle Dupres, Randall Carpio/Lilith Bathory/Nicole Birch
Series: Picking Up the Pieces [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817236
Comments: 156
Kudos: 127





	1. The Dawn of The New Day, part I

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there :)  
> What you will find here are basically my crazy ideas for season 3!  
> This is the third part of "Picking Up the Pieces" series, so if you haven't read the first two, I recommend catching up, beacuse in the two previous parts some important things were explained... and some interesting stuff happened ;) 
> 
> We start right after the "Superwoman" finished...  
> _____  
> As always, I apologize for any mistakes - I'm not a native, unfortunately (;

> _You'll never see what's hiding out  
>  Hiding out deep down_
> 
> _I know, I've heard that to let your feelings show_  
>  _Is the only way to make friendships grow_  
>  _But I'm too afraid now..._
> 
> Sia, 'Unstoppable'

Vera felt warm beams of sunshine touching her face, urging her to open her eyes. But the bed was warm and soft… she wanted to delay the moment of getting up and facing the reality again as much as she could.

Only it seemed that someone was not going to let her.

“Good morning”, a low, rumbling voice disturbed her silence and she whimpered quietly, annoyed.

“I can tell you’re awake”, the voice continued to torment her, so, reluctantly, she cracked one eye open.

Bare-chested Hamish was lying next to her, resting his head on his elbow and smiling broadly. That was quite a pleasant view, so she decided to open her second eye too. She immediately regretted that when the bright light dazzled her, and she had to squint her eyes against the sunshine to continue looking at him.

“G’mornin’”, she muttered and stretched, yawning. His smile was even wider now and she thought that it was probably her sleepiness which was so amusing for him, but then she realised that, with her movement, she slid off the duvet and uncovered her naked breasts, and he was ogling her shamelessly. Her first instinct was to cover herself right away, but she fought the urge to do so. She won’t present him with a reason to make stupid jokes about how shy she supposedly is, for god knows how many days to come. So she just turned to lie on her side and propped her head on her elbow to face him.

“Did you sleep well?” asked Hamish and she was reminded of her nightmare… and how she fell back to sleep in his arms. Actually, after that she slept quite well indeed.

“Yes, thank you”, she answered. “Sorry for waking you in the middle of the night”, she added after a moment of hesitation, hoping that he won’t ask her what her nightmare was about.

“That’s alright. Do you… want to talk about this dream?”

“Not really, no.”

“Okay.”

She was relieved that he didn’t push her and gave him a small smile. He smiled back and then they were just staring at each other for a few minutes, surprisingly comfortable silence surrounding them.

\---

“How old are you?” asked Vera out of the blue.

“You’re already starting to regret last night?” asked Hamish with a crooked smile which didn’t reach his eyes.

“No, not yet.”

“Oh, great, that was reassuring.”

She snorted.

“I don’t regret it and I don’t think I ever will, not unless you give me a very good reason to change my mind”, she answered, giving him a levelled gaze.

“Then I’m glad that we’re on the same page here. I don’t regret it either”, he looked at her fondly.

“So, will you answer my question or not?”

“Only if it’s _quid pro quo_.”

“Fine”, Vera rolled her eyes at him.

“You first!” they both said in unison. Hamish grinned and Vera raised her brows.

“I was the first one to ask the question”, she pointed out.

“But if you don’t tell me first, then how can I edit my answer to adjust it to yours?”

“Excuse me?! You were going to provide me with a lie to fulfil my expectations?”

“And you weren’t?”

“Of course not!”

“Yeah, sure. Then why did you said ‘you first’?”

She sent him a murderous gaze, pouting her lips like a sulking kid and he just couldn’t hold back a grin.

“You have no idea what my expectations are. For all you know I could fancy men who are at least 10 years younger than me, or, just as well, 5 years could be the maximum age gap I’d be willing to accept.”

“You’ve got a point here. So, which option is it?”

“I’m not telling you that!”

Well, he didn’t really expect her to tell him, but it was worth a try.

“Fine, don’t tell me, secret keeper. I’ll tell you, though. My opinion is that age doesn’t really matter. Everyone is different and while you can make some generalisations about expected maturity of men or women in certain age, they are simply not always true. Each case is separate.”

“Nice speech, Mr. Duke. Now, will you finally answer my original question or will you keep stalling?”

“Alright, alright. But remember – you promised to reciprocate!” he pointed out and she nodded. He was a little anxious about her reaction, but there was no point in delaying the inevitable any further, so he finally said it, hoping his voice sounded casual and not nervous at all: “I’m 28.”

“I’m 36”, she admitted after a moment of silence. He couldn’t tell if she was okay with it, or if she was disappointed – the woman really mastered her poker face.

“That’s really young for a chancellor!” he blurted out, not sure what to say.

“Oh, so you think I look older than my age?” she raised one brow at him.

“Don’t do that, please.”

“Do what?”

Hamish sighed.

“Don’t ask this kind of questions. It’s a typical example of a male-dooming conversation: a man says something like: ‘You look wonderful in that dress, babe’, and then a woman says: ‘Oh, so usually I look bad?’. You twist around our innocent compliment so it becomes an impossible-to-win discussion for us.”

“Oh, how terrible of us, wicked women”, she mocked.

“I just meant that it’s an impressive accomplishment to become a chancellor in such a young age. Besides, for the record, if I saw you only when you had no make-up on, I would never guess you’re over 30.”

“Well, I suppose there may be something to it. When I was younger I would always wear full make-up to make people respect me more, because without it I was looking as if I was underage. And then… I guess it’s just sort of became a habit. As to becoming a chancellor… well, that’s an interesting story, but if I told you, I would have to kill you, and I’d rather not.” 

“Oh, how can you think so little of me? Do you think I would let out all your secrets?” he quipped, mimicking a blow to his heart dramatically. Vera smirked, but then her face became serious again and he saw uncertainty in her eyes.

“I don’t know, would you?” she asked quietly with a hint of sadness, as if she was already anticipating a negative answer.

He wanted to answer immediately, to say that _no, he would never_ , but he hesitated. Was it truly what he believed? Would he keep her secret even if he decided it was a threat to the Knights _or_ anyone else? Would he share it with his friends or not? Who should he remain faithful to? He hoped he wouldn’t be forced to choose, but the past months proved that he was forced to do just that on several occasions already. He remembered how upset Jack was when Alyssa kept pulling and pushing him away; when she complained about them ‘being on the opposite sides’, Hamish thought it just an excuse, a sign of weakness and immaturity. But then he was presented with similar choices and he understood how hard it had to be for her.

Sometimes it was just being caught between a rock and a hard place. There was one thing, though, which he was certain of: he wouldn’t give up on Vera because of some obstacles. Since Cassie died, he had been numb, never fully present in the moment. And then Vera Stone, of all people, brought him back to life. He still wasn’t sure how the hell did it happen, but it surely did. Suddenly the shades of grey became colours; the food regained flavours again; the sounds turned into music… It was like becoming a werewolf for the first time all over again – all his senses were heightened and he was such a bundle of energy. So if there was one thing he was sure about, it was that he would do all within his power not to fuck this up. But he didn’t want to break his moral rules either, so he replied carefully:

“Do you recall when I told you that I had never thought I would have to choose between my friends and my integrity?” She nodded slightly, so he continued. “We both know that I’m in a difficult position here. I hope I’ll never be forced to choose between betraying you or betraying my friends, but if I will… I… I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep, Vera. If it ever comes to this, I’ll do what my conscience dictates me. So I’ll understand if you don’t want to tell me some things… I would really appreciate it, though, if you were honest with me. Lies are what make people suspicious. And I hope you already know that I don’t judge you and your choices. I believe in you, I respect you, and I’d like to also trust you, but it will be hard to achieve if you keep hiding things from me.”

\---

Vera mulled it over for a long while. She appreciated his honesty, but at the same time she wished he hadn’t said all that. It was easier to keep the distance; she would tell him only what she saw fit, he would tell her only what he thought she should know. Now it was about to change and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. It would be such a relief to have someone who she could share all her thoughts with… Sometimes keeping all those secrets felt like a burden so heavy that she wasn’t sure if she manages to carry it any longer. Deciding what she should or shouldn’t tell the others was not an easy job. It was like walking through a minefield: you can never be sure if something doesn’t blow up on your face all of the sudden.

Was trusting _him_ more or less dangerous…?

“I’m hungry. Did you buy something for breakfast yesterday?” she said finally, not looking him in the eyes. She didn’t have to, though. She knew it hurt him; something shifted between them and a feeling of easiness and security vanished. It stung her too, perhaps even more than she anticipated. She had already got in too deep. Nothing good ever came from trusting someone in her life before. It was safer to keep her distance.

“Yes, I did. There are eggs, chives, bread rolls and butter. I was thinking scrambled eggs”, he replied in blank voice. Vera felt her heart sink.

“Sounds great. Shall we go to the kitchen?” she asked with fake cheerfulness.

“Sure”, he replied curtly and slid into his pants, not bothering with putting his shirt on. ‘Oh, God, he’s not making it easier’, she thought, watching his well-shaped back with longing, as he was walking to the door. She put on her bath robe, intending to dress herself later, after taking a shower, and followed him to the kitchen.

\---

“What can I do?” Vera looked at him expectantly.

“You can butter the bread rolls, if you want to help. Butter’s in the fridge, rolls are over there, and cutlery is in this drawer”, he pointed a cupboard and returned to preparing the scrambled eggs. He was angry and hurt and he was trying not to look at her, but he couldn’t stop himself from throwing a glance at her every now and then. She was barefoot, her hair still messy after the night, her attention focused on making the sandwiches. This whole scene looked so… natural. As if it was one of many mornings when they would prepare breakfast together, after spending a night with each other. He caught himself thinking that he would very much like that… but, judging by her reaction earlier, it wasn’t going to happen. Apparently, he was just a meaningless fuck buddy to her.


	2. The Dawn of The New Day, part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay folks, here comes the next chapter! I'm probably even more excited about writing this story than you are about reading it, so worry not - the chapters will keep coming! More or less regularly ;)
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos! I really appreciate it. And big thanks to Celtic_Girl_Sima for her unfailing support <3
> 
> As you might have noticed, I like adding quotes from songs to my works. Personally, when I'm emotional about something, I love to find a fitting song to listen to it and sing it a thousand times a day, so naturally I do the same when writing. Therefore, you'll find a quote at the beginning of each chapter - I encourage you to listen to it while or after you read (whatever you prefer). Especially the one below - omg, this song is so vermish! <3
> 
> Enjoy! xoxo

> _When I look into your eyes_  
>  _It's like watching the night sky_  
>  _Or a beautiful sunrise_  
>  _There's so much they hold_
> 
> _And just like them old stars_  
>  _I see that you've come so far_  
>  _To be right where you are_  
>  _How old is your soul?_
> 
> _Well, I won't give up on us_  
>  _Even if the skies get rough_  
>  _I'm giving you all my love_  
>  _I'm still looking up_
> 
> _I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily_  
>  _I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make_  
>  _Our differences, they do a lot to teach us how to use_  
>  _The tools and gifts we got yeah, we got a lot at stake_

Jason Mraz, 'I Won't Give Up'

They sat at the table and started eating, uncomfortable silence hovering between them. Suddenly Vera spoke:

“It’s customary for the Temple Magus to be a chancellor, so everything may run smoothly. But it’s not often for a Temple Magus to be recognised as the best choice for a chancellor, so usually we have to… Well, I’m not proud of that, but… I used _pulveris memoria_ to ‘convince’ the university board that they elected me.”

Hamish looked at her, surprised, but she was staring at the table. He felt heartened by this confession; she obviously tried to lower her guard a little and share, and he appreciated that. Maybe there was hope for them, after all…

“But you have a PhD, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do” replied Vera.

“Physics, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“This is some solid science. And not a particularly common choice for women. Why did you choose it?”

She obviously had this well figured out, because she didn’t ponder long before she answered:

“When I started studying at Belgrave, I didn’t know what my major will be. I was considering many, many different things… But then I was invited to join the Order, and I was so excited about learning magic that I devoured almost every grimoire I could get my hands on. Soon I realised that magic is very much about physics, really. The point is to make the molecules shift and interact with each other in certain ways; to change one form of energy to another. If you understand these mechanisms, it make performing magic a whole lot easier.”

“I see…” Hamish’s eyes glinted; he loved discussing physics just as much as metaphysics. Actually, he simply loved discussing with a witty partner, and Vera appeared to be just that. It was not a revelation, of course, he had realised she was intelligent and sharp-minded a long time ago, but she never ceased to amaze him with her knowledge and brightness. He wanted to ask her more about magic and physics connections, when a phone rang.

“It’s mine” said Vera, a little surprised, and got up to find it. “Yes?”

_“Aunt Vera? It’s Maddox.”_

“Maddox? What’s happened? Why are you calling me?”

_“Do you know where aunt Bitsy is?”_

“No, why…?”

_“Because she was supposed to drive me home from my fencing lessons yesterday, but when I got into the car she disappeared and I couldn’t find her anywhere, and she doesn’t pick up her phone.”_

Vera paled and looked at Hamish.

“That was yesterday? And what did you then?”

_“I called my grandpa and he came to pick me up, and I slept at my grandparents place.”_

“And where are you now?”

 _“I’m still with them”_ , the boy replied and she breathed out with relief.

“Good. Stay with them for now, and I’ll try and check what’s happened with aunt Bitsy. Okay?”

_“Okay.”_

“I’ll call you when I find out. Bye, Maddox.”

_“Bye, auntie.”_

Vera hung up and sat down slowly, lost in thoughts.

“Did you hear that?” she asked after a second and Hamish nodded. “I’d better call her”, she decided and did what she said, but with no luck. It seemed that Kepler’s phone was switched off or it had ran out of battery. “Great. As if we didn’t have enough problems.”

“What is your plan?” asked Hamish, and she pinched her nose bridge hard. She always did that when the situation started to overwhelm her and she felt a headache was coming.

“I’ve been thinking about going to some tropical island and never coming back.”

“Well, as much I would love to accompany you on that venture, my duty to the Knights of Saint Christopher obliges me to stay. Besides, I thought that your duty as a Grand Magus means that you have to stay too?”

“I’m no Grand Magus. Not anymore. Not without my magic”, she answered gloomily.

“Then we should figure out how to get it back. And after that, how to reverse the _Fors Factoram_ ”, Hamish said calmly, but firmly.

“There is no way to reverse _Fors Factoram_ ”, she replied sadly, her eyes empty, bottomless holes.

“You don’t mean that. There must be. There’s always a way!” Hamish said emotionally, but Vera shook her head.

“No. That’s not true and you know it. Is there any way to stop being a werewolf?” she asked rhetorically and he had to stay silent. His heart sunk and it felt like a huge burden was just laid down on his shoulders.

“So… It means that… that _what_?”

“That the odds are that I’m not going to stay alive for much longer”, she said blankly, her face emotionless mask.

He looked down, clenching his fists. He didn’t want to accept it, not without a fight. He couldn’t lose another _lo…_ another important person in his life. He just couldn’t!

“Well, if that’s so, then we’re well suited”, quipped Hamish with no humour in his voice.

“What do you mean?” she asked and he could see fear in her eyes.

“I don’t know any Knight who would live long enough to grow old. The hides are eternal, the champions are not; wearing the hide wears you down. You are stronger, yes, but you also age faster. ‘ _Long is the road, short is the life’_ ”, he recited, and stood up to carry his plate to the sink, but when he saw the look on her face, he stopped. “Don’t look so miserable, Vera. You’ll probably outlive me anyway”, he said bitterly.

“There is… there is a way to stop _Fors Factoram_. Not reverse it, no, but at least stop it. What’s done is done, the damage generated till this point is not reversable, but you’re no longer treated like a sacrifice when you perform incantations. So, technically, the magic cancer stops destroying you… But all the damage that has been already done may influence your health condition, so it can keep getting worse anyway”, she said quietly and his eyes glinted with hope.

“Well, it’s worth a try, isn’t it?! Maybe some medicine could help to prevent further development of any possible illnesses!”

“Well, I guess it is”, she replied hesitantly.

“That’s wonderful news, Vera!” Hamish acclaimed excitedly, wanting to lift her up and spin around with her.

“I still have to get my magic back first.”

“Okay, and how do we do that?” he leaned on the table.

“I have no idea.”

***

Jack had browsed that blasted book like a thousand times already and there was nothing, literally _nothing_ on bringing people back from the dead. Wasn’t it the most powerful magical book on Earth? Vera said that one could perform the spells from this grimoire without resorting to pledging their fealty to it, and there was plenty of other spells in there indeed, but nothing on resurrection. He cursed under his breath for the twentieth time and figured that asking someone more knowledgeable for help might be his only chance. _Their_ only chance.

He hoped that Nicole is still at the den; she must have come across _something_ while she was looking for the ways to bring Lilith back. Oh, and Lilith herself might be able to help too; that girl was pretty well informed when it came to magic. He chose to forget for a moment about the pressing matter of a demonic tattoo on her face.

Jack thought he probably should hide the _Vade Maecum_ somewhere before he goes to the den. He was considering burying it in the ground, but even though Vera said it’s non-destroyable, he didn’t want to take his chances. Looking around him in search of a suitable hiding place, he was reminded of a big old tree with an almost empty trunk, which he had found a while ago. _It will have to do_ , he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect LOTS of action in the next chapters...


	3. Unrest, part I

> _Everything will change_  
>  _Nothing stays the same_  
>  _And nobody here's perfect_  
>  _Oh but everyone's to blame_

Andrew Belle, ‘In My Veins’

When Jack came through the door, carrying Alyssa’s blooded corpse in his arms, Randall decided it has just become too much to handle.

“Dude, what are you doing?!” he tried to whisper conspiratorially, which obviously meant that he practically shouted. “Gabrielle is devastated, worrying herself sick because she killed Alyssa, and you’re bringing her body here?!”

“Oh I’m sorry if it makes Gabrielle _uncomfortable_ , but I kind of have more important things on my mind now”, jeered Jack, and got past Randall, basically pushing him off the way.

When he came into the living room, he was welcomed by a collective gasp of shock. He didn’t seem to notice it, though, and he laid Alyssa on the floor gently, supporting her head on his knees and stroking her hair absently. Nicole, Lilith and Gabrielle were looking at him with wide eyes, terrified and speechless.

Randall, who was observing this scene from the hall, slowly took out his phone from a pocket.

“Hamish? Wherever you are, whatever you do, drop it. You need to come here, ASAP.”

***

Hamish tried to extract some more information from Randall, but his friend just hung up.

“What’s happening?” asked Vera.

“No idea. But it must be bad”, answered Hamish, thinking about how awfully disturbed Randall’s voice sounded. “We’d better go there and see for ourselves.”

“Are you sure they won’t mind if I come?”

“Honestly? I don’t give a damn. And since when do _you_ care?”

“Fair enough”, she admitted. “Let’s go then.”

***

“What is _she_ doing here?” asked Randall, throwing a suspicious glance at Vera.

“ _Grand Magus_ is part of the team and _you_ will treat her with due respect”, replied coldly Hamish before Vera managed to say anything, so she just shrugged.

Randall obviously wasn’t happy, but he didn’t argue.

“Fine, whatever. Just come on in, quick”, he stepped aside to let them through.

“… so you’re telling me there is no way to bring her back? This fucking magic is a useless piece of shit!” they heard Jack ranting.

“If there was a simple way to resurrect people, then the Earth would quickly become even more overpopulated than it is now, Mr. Morton.”

Jack turned around abruptly. Apparently, he was so absorbed in the moment that he hadn’t noticed their entrance before, but he quickly regained his composure.

“You’re saying there’s no _easy_ way. So there _is_ a way?

Every pair of eyes was on her now.

“Yes, there is. But it demands killing three people. And a person who you’re bringing back won’t be able to get back into their own body.”

“Three people? Why not just one?”

“And how is _just one_ better?” yelled Nicole. “How can you consider killing even one person?!”

“Oh, please. Somehow you didn’t mind when you had to do just that to save Lilith”, snapped Jack.

“What? What are you talking about?!” Nicole was authentically shocked.

“She didn’t know that”, interfered Randall, resigned look on his face.

“Didn’t know what?” asked Nicole nervously.

“You made a mistake translating the requirements for the incantation”, explained Randall reluctantly. “We weren’t supposed to kill and owl or even two owls; we were supposed to kill a witch.”

“A witch…?” shrieked Nicole, her voice breaking. Vera’s eyes widened in terror.

“What the hell have you done, Mr. Carpio?!”

“When you discovered your mistake, Nicole, you wanted to sacrifice yourself. I couldn’t allow that, I knew Lilith wouldn’t forgive me if I did, and I didn’t want to do it anyway, of course… so I powdered you and told you that you had found out that it should have been two owls instead of one, and in the meantime I went to… deal with _things_.”

“Who did you kill, Randall?” asked Hamish anxiously.

“Kepler”, disclosed Randall quietly, studying his shoes.

“Fuck”, whispered Vera weakly. “Fuck, fuck, _fuck_!” So _now_ she knew why Maddox couldn’t find his aunt…

“I thought you didn’t like her”, said Randall tentatively.

“Whether I liked her or not is irrelevant!” burst out Vera. “You killed the bloody head of the fucking Gnostic Council! Have you got any idea what does it mean?!”

“That we’re in trouble?” said Randall lamely and Vera took a deep breath, trying hard to calm down, and pinching the bridge of her nose again. Suddenly she felt she wouldn’t be able to stay upright anymore and she looked around in search for something to sit on. She noticed an armchair and collapsed onto it with relief.

“So, may we go back to my original question? Why three?” asked Jack impatiently, apparently indifferent to any other topic of conversation. Everyone else looked at him reproachfully, but Vera answered him:

“Three, because once someone is taken, they’re taken. It’s just the way it is – and if you try to negotiate with… let’s call it _fate_ , for the benefit of this explanation – you have to offer something better in exchange. Let’s say that someone just bought something you also wanted badly; they won’t give it away just because you ask nicely; it has been perfect for them and they already have it; why should they give up on it? You have to offer them something even better to convince them, something of equal worth won’t be enough to convince them to trade. That’s how it works.”

“And what about the _Vade Maecum Infernal_? Would that work?”

“Did you found the _Vade Maecum_?” exclaimed Vera, her freshly regained peace shattered to pieces again.

“Maybe… And what if I did?”

“Answer the question, disciple!”

“No, you answer _me_. Would it work?”

“Dude, you’re not serious, are you?” asked Randall nervously. “We’re sworn to prevent anyone from even finding this book, let alone using it!”

But Jack was still staring at Vera intently.

“So? Would it?”

“I suppose so, yes. But you would still need to kill someone, someone whose body would Alyssa inhabit. And it’s highly unlikely she’ll be her normal self. Though I have to admit, I’m not sure what version of her was her normal self, she was changing her alliances and views so quickly…” Vera fell silent under Jack’s mad gaze. ‘God, he is really willing to do this’, she realised. He was willing to do whatever it takes… She couldn’t let that happen! He was supposed to be the chosen one, he was supposed to save The Order, to reform it, to fix it… She couldn’t allow him to complete the blasted _Vade Maecum_! “Mr. Morton, please, don’t do this,” she said softly. “Don’t you remember what it did to your father?”

“He was never my father. He was just a sperm donor”, spat Jack, thunders in his eyes.

“The point still stands. Also, you can’t possibly know who could you release from the _Vade Maecum_ …”

“Actually, I know that”, suddenly spoke Lilith, who had been silent till then. “You would release not only Edward Coventry and all the others who tried to complete the _Vade Maecum_ before him; you would open the gate to this realm for all the Tartarus inhabitants.”

“Tartarus inhabitants?” echoed Hamish.

“Yes. Tartarus is a place – well, a kind of dimension, to be specific – where all the worst demons live. The demons who broke the rules… And not only demons – it’s home of all kinds of beings who don’t fit into any other dimension. It is where I will be forced to go if you don’t send me back soon enough!”*

“And how would completing the _Vade Maecum_ open a portal to the Tartarus, Miss Bathory?”

“All the people who tried to complete the _Vade Maecum_ after it was tore down for the first time, are imprisoned in that book. Metaphorically speaking, of course, because in reality, they are living in their own dimension; a dimension which is somewhere between this realm, the demons realm and the Tartarus. What I’m trying to say is, that all demons, from our realm…”Lilith taking about the demon realm as ‘our’ made all of them exchange worried glances “…and from the Tartarus are free to contact the ‘inhabitants’ of _Vade Maecum_ and influence them.”

“So, what you’re saying is that those Tartarus eruptions were basically the worst kind of demons trying to get through…?” asked Vera weakly.

“Oh yeah, that was some juicy news up there! Although, the eruptions were not caused by Tartarus beings; the inappropriate use of magic resulted in creating portals between the earthly realm and the Tartarus, and the demons were just trying to use the opportunity and get through. You know, it must get boring down there after millennia and millennia…”

“Yes… It surely must…” Vera cleared her throat.

“You can kill me”, Gabrielle said suddenly, making everyone look at her startled. “It’s my fault she’s dead.”

“No it’s not! It’s Midnight’s fault”, protested Randall. “Also, I really don’t think you should unite with that blasted book, mate!”

“These are my thoughts too, Jack”, added Hamish. “How can you even consider it? You worked so hard to cross Edward’s plans, to destroy this grimoire. You said yourself that you are done with letting anger and revenge dictate your actions.”

“Well, yeah, and look where that led me”, spat Jack, his voice full of anger and bitterness.

“Leave us alone, please”, said Vera quietly and looked around at the gathered people. They glanced at her questioningly, but complied. She waited until she heard the click of a front door closing, before she spoke.

____________________________

* If you want to know more about the demon realm and why Lilith has to get back, and you still haven't read the first of this series, 'The Point of No Return', you can do it now :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How would you feel about slightly longer chapters? Okay, not sligtly, almost 2x longer? :D  
> The plot thickens in the next chapters and I have some difficulty in breaking it into even parts.


	4. Unrest, part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your comments and kudos, I really appreciate your support <3  
> And so I decided to present you with a brand new, long chapter :D

> _Everything is dark_  
>  _It's more than you can take_  
>  _But you catch a glimpse of sunlight_  
>  _Shinin', shinin' down on your face_

Andrew Belle, ‘In my veins’

“Mr. Morton, I know how you feel.”

“How can you possibly know…” started Jack and then he stopped, remembering that day when Vera drunk the Egregor and showed them all her most painful memories. So he nodded, letting her continue.

“I know that what you’re thinking now is that you don’t have any reason to live left. That you have lost everyone who you cared about. But even if you feel like that now, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be like this forever. You are still very young and your life is far from over; you’ll have plenty of opportunities to find meaning in your life again. But if you pledge your fealty to the _Vade Maecum_ … you won’t have this chance. You will never be yourself again.”

“Says a woman who kept that exact book for herself and pretended that she had destroyed it. If you did destroy it, Alyssa would still be alive!”

Vera sighed.

“You’re probably right”, she said quietly, earning a look of surprise from him, “and I will never forgive myself for that. But this is only yet another proof of how dangerous this book is. It compelled me… it called me, it _wanted_ me to complete that incantation. Do you think it would work like that if it really gave you the absolute control over magic? It wouldn’t. It doesn’t give you control over magic; it makes you become magic, or rather it’s tool. You have to lose yourself to become one with this book; and when you do this, you’re no longer the one who yields the power. And if what Miss Bathory said is the truth, then it’s even worse than I thought – it makes you a puppet of the worst kind of demons; it makes you an executor of a mass destruction. Do you honestly think that Alyssa would still want you if she learned what you did to bring her back?”

Jack didn’t want to hear all this. It was making a lot of sense, but he hated to admit it. He clenched his teeth, exasperated. They were silent for a long while, when finally he spoke:

“Fine. I won’t use the _Vade Maecum_. But I’m not telling you where it is.”

“I don’t want to know. But do you promise to show it to your fellow Knights, tear it apart and hide it so that no one will know where the other parts are?”

Jack considered it for a moment. He didn’t want to make such promises; he planned to save this grimoire for himself, just in case he had to use it eventually.

“Mr. Morton?”

“I can’t promise you that.”

“Mr. Morton… Do you remember how I told you that you’re the chosen one?”

“Yeah. I don’t give a damn if I’m ‘the chosen one’ or not. I’ve got enough of trying to save everyone; it seems I’m not particularly good at it. I bring death everywhere I go. I destroy everything I touch”, he said darkly.

Vera smiled ruefully, a memory of her saying similar words just the day before crossing her mind.

“I could say the same. But it doesn’t mean I stop trying.”

 _Though I probably would, if it weren’t for Hamish_ , she realised. She wasn’t sure if it was making her feel happy, sad, or scared. Probably a bit of each.

“What keeps you going?” asked Jack, his voice so empty and miserable she felt her heart cringe. She considered her answer for a moment.

“Obligation. Conscience. People I care about. Hope that better days will come”, she answered honestly.

“I don’t know if I can make it.”

“You’re not alone”, a familiar voice called from behind her. She turned around and saw Hamish approaching them, followed by Randall, Gabrielle, Nicole and Lilith.

“You were eavesdropping”, grumbled Jack. “How typical.”

Vera eyed Hamish reproachfully, but the tall man only shrugged.

“Yeah, mate. But the point is, you’ve got _us_. And Silverback, at least until Midnight defeats Gabrielle again and she/he kills you” added Randall reassuringly.

“Sweet.”

“And you can talk to Alyssa via necrophone”, pointed out Vera, making Jack look at her with renewed enthusiasm.

“You have a necrophone?!”

“ _The_ necrophone, Mr. Morton. I don’t think there is any other in existence, at least not in the North America.”

“How?!”

“Well, your grandfather sent it to Hamish with a request to use it to tell you that he loved you, if he didn’t make it himself”, explained Nicole.

“Yeah, when he went to get Coventry you were still dead, so… you know”, confirmed Hamish.

“You knew?” asked Jack, disbelievingly. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”

“Well, it happened while I was being powdered regularly, so naturally I couldn’t remember it then… And after we got all of our memories back… It just kind of slipped my mind. And you were alive, obviously, so…”

“What happened to the necrophone after that?”

“We confiscated it and put it in the reliquary…” said Nicole.

“…and knowing my luck, it is somewhere in that part of stuff which we didn’t recover. Am I right?” interrupted her Jack.

Nicole looked at the Grand Magus for confirmation and they both nodded their heads.

“May I remind you that if you hadn’t stolen it in the first place, you wouldn’t have to recover anything?” Vera said.

“And may I remind you that you confiscated my property, having no right to do so?” retorted Jack angrily.

“It was never your property. It was a subject of a contract between Edward and Renee, a subject you illegally intercepted and your grandfather carelessly destroyed”, she pointed out coolly.

“A deal that hadn’t been seen through.”

“Because you werewolves ate the hearts of the participants!” exclaimed Vera, aggravated.

“How about you finish this going-nowhere quarrel and focus on sending me back to the demon realm?” interrupted Lilith.

“How about we finish this argument and focus on… What did you say, Lilith?” said Jack, baffled.

“If you were picking up your phone, mate, you would’ve been up to date”, answered Randall resentfully.

“Actually, we would like to learn some details, too”, interfered Hamish, apparently speaking for himself as well as for Vera. She raised one brow at him, but let it drop.

Lilith sighed impatiently and went to explain everything. When she finished, everyone was dead quiet. Nicole was first to break the silence.

“Wait, I don’t understand one thing… If we didn’t mess up the incantation, then why didn’t it work? Why can’t the demons just claim Kepler instead of you?”

“Oh, you did mess up the incantation, actually. You killed her and poured her blood into the portal, but in order for it to work properly, you should have thrown her in there alive.”

“That’s a little drastic”, commented Randall, expressing everyone’s thoughts.

“Well, maybe, but the point is that you can’t change a dead person into a demon; dead people’s souls, go to another place. Like I told you yesterday, Nicole”, Lilith turned to the afro girl. “Dead person’s magical and physical energy reunites with the general pool of energy flowing through the universe, and the mind with all its memories joins the collective unconsciousness. In other words, when people die, they dissolve into three parts: matter part, energy part, and mind part; they’re not a whole being anymore, so demons can’t turn the dead into demons. Besides, demons don’t have access to earthly realm. But even if you had done the incantation properly, I couldn’t have come back anyway; maybe if you managed to make it before I got branded… But it’s too late now.”

“We’re so sorry, Lilith”, said Hamish, his blue eyes filled with regret. “We should’ve done more… We should’ve…”

“We couldn’t have done more, because all the grimoires were stolen by Praxis. And none of it would have ever happened if I didn’t talk you all into the idea of stealing it in the first place”, opposed Jack. “It’s all my fault. Midnight was right when he wanted to kill me”, he added depressingly.

“Don’t put all the blame on yourself, Jack”, said Lilith. “We all wanted to get our revenge at The Order”, she said, looking at the Grand Magus pointedly. “We all agreed to do that.”

“I didn’t!” protested Randall, and Vera was truly shocked. _Randall, of all people?_

“Well, technically, you opposed only to summoning a demon, not the idea of stealing itself”, corrected Hamish mercilessly. _Ah, of course._ _Still, surprisingly reasonable_ , she thought.

“Right, well, if you’re finished with accusations and self-pity, maybe we could move on to actually doing something to send Miss Bathory back?” interrupted them Vera. “I understand she hasn’t got much time left”, she added, earning a surprised but grateful look from Lilith.

“Wait!” called Jack. “And what about Timber? You can’t take her to the demon realm!”

“I…” started Lilith, but she didn’t get a chance to continue.

“We may try to do the same thing we did to you, Jack, when Silverback was trying to get free”, pondered Hamish.

“Yeah, well, but he _wanted_ to get out, _and_ Jack almost _died_ in the process”, opposed Randall.

“It’s not like Lilith is going to be alive after anyway…” muttered Jack.

“Did you listen to anything she said, you idiot?!” shouted Gabrielle. “She can’t die, or else she won’t become a demon!”

“Guys…” tried Lilith again.

“Okay, okay, sorry! I forgot about this!” Jack shouted back at Gabrielle, putting his arms in the air as a sign of surrender.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” yelled Lilith finally, and as they fell silent, she added with normal voice: “Listen to me. That won’t be a problem, because Timber left me as soon as I entered the demon realm.”*

Her announcement was met with a collective gasp of surprise.

“But Timber’s locker is empty…” said slowly Randall.

“So where can she be?” asked Gabrielle.

“Is it possible that she’s lost somewhere in another dimension or something?” questioned Jack.

“No”, Hamish shook his head thoughtfully. “No, I don’t think so. I think she found another champion.”

“But how?” asked Randall.

“It must have happened while the lockers were in Praxis’ possession…” said Jack.

***

Kate was wiping the glasses absent-mindedly when the door of the café opened and her friend, Mary, walked in. Otsana smiled at the sight of her; Mary was always in a rush, never staying put for too long, her ginger hair always dishevelled, her movements energetic and impatient. But today she seemed even more uneasy than usual. She crossed the room quickly and sat at the bar.

“Hi”, she panted, a little out of breath.

“Hi, Mary. Want a coffee?”

“No. Or maybe yes. Yes. Make me a latte, will you?”

Katharine nodded and started preparing the beverage. There weren’t many customers at this time of day, so she didn’t have to hurry.

“You know, if I had known that being a barista is mostly cleaning and washing up, I would’ve thought twice before taking that job.”

“Don’t tell me you want to change your job again.”

“I haven’t said that! I said that I would have reconsider if I’d known before.”

“Yeah, it always starts like that with you… Anyway, I have more important things to talk to you about.”

“Oh? Spill it, then.”

Mary looked around nervously, trying to assess how far the other customers are sitting.

“I’d rather not say it here.”

“Come on! Then why would you come here and get me all curious?! That’s not fair.”

Mary cleared her throat.

“Because it’s urgent…” she replied, lowering her voice. “It’s about You-Know-What.”

Kate raised her brows.

“Are we in a Harry Potter movie or have you got persecutory delusions I don’t know about?”

Her friend grunted, exasperated.

“It’s about PRAXIS”, she whispered.

“Then why are you being so secretive about it? It’s all about free access to magic, is it not?”

“Shh! Shut up, Kate!”

“Okay, calm down, girl! I’m going to turn on the coffee machine now, and you’ll tell me what it is you wanna tell me, alright?” proposed Katharine and Mary nodded in agreement. Soon the room was filled with the machine’s buzzing and hissing, and the ginger head started talking rapidly.

“You need to hide, Kate. They’re planning to hunt down the werewolves. Nicholas believes that they are the reason why everything went south, and he’s inciting the others. He says that the hides deprive their bearers of rational thinking and autonomy, and that it was the reason why Salvador and Foley failed. And he wants revenge for Alyssa, too. I think he might have figured out the connection between the raids and the werewolves; I think he suspects, at least, if not knows for certain, that the werewolves can sense magic. So he believes that they are the tools of control and oppression, and that they serve as the weapon of The Order.”

“Shit”, whispered Katharine. “Does he know about me?”

“I don’t know, Katie. Was there anyone else in the warehouse when the hide jumped on you?”

“Well, yes… There was Salvador, and some other people, but I don’t remember who.”

“Then we must assume that even if he doesn't know yet, he soon will. Someone’s gonna talk.”

_____________________________________________

* If you’re wondering why the locker could act as a tether to Lilith even though she wasn’t wearing Timber’s hide anymore, remember that Lilith had carved her name in the locker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! How did you like my little surprise? Guess whose hide Katie is wearing...


	5. Too Late to Apologize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, it seemes like the last, longer chapter overwhelmed you a little, so this one will be shorter again :D

> _When the tears come streaming down your face_   
>  _'Cause you lose something you can't replace_   
>  _When you love someone but it goes to waste_   
>  _What could it be worse?_

Coldplay, ‘Fix You”

“So now we have two werewolves among the enemy lines”, summed up Vera. “How wonderful.”

“We don’t know that” said Jack. “We don’t know if Alpha has found another champion already. We don’t know where did Alyssa hide the locker.”

“Well, in that case it’s better if we assume that it has already happened and prepare for the worst”, commented Vera. ‘As always’, she added bitterly in her thoughts. “But for now… how are you planning to send Miss Bathory to the demon realm?”

“So… the problem is that Lilith is not entirely a demon yet”, started Nicole. “So we’re afraid that the incantation for banishing demons and sending them to hell may not work properly.”

“What about the incantation we used to bring her back?” asked Jack.

“We can’t use that; it was meant to retrieve a particular person from the demon realm, not just open a portal”, Nicole replied.

“But it did open a portal; it was open before we got Lilith back”, Jack pointed out.

“I don’t think it opened thanks to our incantation; I suppose it was the result of the Tartarus eruption we caused”, said Hamish.

“Exactly”, agreed Nicole.

“Have you found anything else?” questioned Vera.

“Well…” answered Randall. “We did find one solution that seems to have a bigger chance for success…”

“Why do I feel like I’m not going to like this solution?” asked Hamish.

“Because…”

“Because we would have to summon my friend to take me back with her. My _demon_ friend.” said Lilith.

“Lilith says she’s not dangerous at all, and quite nice” supported her Randall.

“Not dangerous and quite nice?” repeated Hamish incredulously.

“And this comes from a dude who was peeing his pants when we were about to summon Zecchia?” added Jack.

“Hey! I didn’t pee my pants!” protested Randall. “I just warned you it’s not a good idea and I was right!”

“Do you hear yourself, mate?” asked Hamish.

“Look, relax”, interjected Lilith. “It didn’t come out right, no one can deny, but this time is different. This is a friend of mine and I can vow for her. She’s alright.”

Hamish looked at Vera questioningly.

“What do you think?” he asked her.

“Yes, what do you think, Magus?” asked Nicole. Everyone’s eyes were on her. 

She shrugged her arms.

“Do whatever you want, but remember that this time I won’t be able to clean up your mess later.”

“You still don’t… You didn’t…” started Jack hesitantly.

“Get my magic back when your girlfriend died? No.”

“I told you we should’ve eaten her heart! Gabrielle, you should do it” said Hamish.

“No!” shouted Jack, Gabrielle… and Vera. And though a protest from the first two was to be expected, everyone was shocked to hear the Grand Magus object.

“Why?” asked Hamish, confused.

“Because it may ruin my only chance for getting my magic back. When you eat the hearts of your victims, you cut dead the flow of magic, right?”

“Yes…” confirmed Jack, puzzled, and the rest of the wolves nodded.

“Then no one is eating Alyssa’s heart.”

“Why not?” asked Hamish. When she raised her brows at him reproachfully, he added hastily, but a bit too pointedly to her liking: “ _Grand Magus?_ ” They might have slept together but it didn’t mean she’d allow him to treat her like equal in front of the others! She send him another disapproving glance and turned to the rest. They were all looking at her, clearly expecting an answer. She didn’t feel like sharing, though.

“Because I said so” she finally responded. “I believe we have more important things to do right now than lecturing about the nature of magic. So let’s at least prepare properly for this summoning of yours…”

“Wait! Magus”, interjected Hamish. She sent him one of her most intimidating murderous glances.

“What”, she snapped, riled.

“It just occurred to me that we have a magical artifact, capable of creating a portal to anywhere, at our disposal”.

“Cretian loom”, she said, and he nodded. Well, she might have been impressed with him, if she hadn’t thought about it already. “Yes… I considered that, but the problem is that none of you is powerful enough to use it to open a portal to another realm.”

“But even Angus managed to use it!” protested Gabrielle.

“Yes, Miss Dupres, but opening a portal to a nearby pub and opening a passage to another realm are two entirely different things.”

“Okay then, so let’s summon this demon!” said Randall cheerfully, and everyone in the room gave him a _you’re-a-weirdo-dude_ look. “What?” he shrugged.

‘Dear God, what have I done to end up with a bunch of hotheaded kids as my only allies?’, she thought, closing her eyes.

“I’m sorry, am I the only one here who’s a tad uncomfortable with a _dead body_ lying on the floor between us? How about we bury Alyssa first?” asked Gabrielle.

“She deserves a proper funeral, not an unnamed grave in the woods…” opposed Jack.

“And she will get one, Mr. Morton. All in due time. We can secure the body with a spell, so it doesn’t decay”, said Vera.

Jack looked like he was going to protest, but eventually he nodded, resignedly.

***

Vera kneeled on the ground, next to Alyssa’s head. She gripped a strand of her blond hair and pulled it out. If anyone was wondering why would she do that, they didn’t ask. She put the hair into a small jar and hid it in her coat’s pocket.

“Come here, Acolyte” she turned to Miss Dupres. Gabrielle approached her tentatively. “Slice your palm, place it on her forehead”, instructed Vera, “and say: _Corporis putredine tuetur._ ”*

Gabrielle looked like getting near Alyssa’s body was the last thing she wanted to do, but she complied. She owed her that much for not managing to stop Midnight.

“ _Corporis putredine tuetur_ ” she repeated, watching her blood marking Alyssa’s pale face and sinking into her hair.

“You may bury her now”, said Vera, getting up and brushing off the grass from her trousers.

Everybody looked at Jack, waiting for a sign. He went forward and collapsed on his knees beside Alyssa. For a long while, he was just staring at her, but finally he bent down and kissed her cheek. A cheek that was never going to be flushed again. He caressed her face with his hand one last time, and then nodded slightly. On his cue, Hamish and Randall approached, and helped him lift Alyssa’s body and lower it down to the grave.

“Shall we say something?” offered Lilith quietly, but Jack shook his head.

“No.” It was stupid, he knew it, but somehow he felt that if they don’t say goodbye, it won’t be over. That there will still be a chance to reverse it.

So they just stood there in silence for a few minutes. Then he felt Lilith’s taking his hand, and Hamish putting his arm over his shoulders. He caught Gabrielle watching him.

“I’m so sorry, Jack”, she whispered quietly, and he thought that he had never seen her so genuinely upset. But he wasn’t ready to forgive her. If he was able to fight Midnight’s murderous impulses, so could she. He gave her a levelled gaze and said nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *this spell is not mentioned in the series, it's my own invention - I did my best with the Latin haha
> 
> The next chapter is going to reveal a little from the Knights' history, and... prepare for a surprise!


	6. The Knights of St. Christopher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this chapter is going to be a little different. We will leave our favourite characters for a moment... But it's quite important for the plot, and you'll learn some interesting stuff! And I promise, we will get back to the main characters in the next part ;)
> 
> EDIT: ATTENTION!  
> I've just learned that the pictures stopped loading properly, so I tried a different hosting server; I hope it will work this time! If not, please, let me know, because this pictures contain quite an important piece of the story!

Kate was back in her flat, running to and fro, trying to think about all the things she might possibly need, being a woman on the run.

But packing wasn’t the only thing occupying her mind. She had been struggling to decide if she should or shouldn’t try to warn the other Knights of Saint Christopher, and finally she made up her mind. She would do this. She didn’t owe Praxis anything; especially not now, when they wanted her head – just because she was a werewolf! As if she had asked for it in the first place. Which she did not.

She was utterly confused when she woke up after her first transformation; she was found by Salvador, who explained her what had happened and divulged that she was a werewolf herself. But even though Salvador was apparently familiar with lycanthropy, she seemed to be pretty shocked with Katharine’s transformation. The short woman said something about being convinced that that there were four Knights alive. Kate had no idea what she was talking about, and when she asked who The Knights were, Salvador told her everything.

Well, honestly, Katharine was pretty sure Salvador _didn’t_ tell her _everything_ ; she had a feeling that the woman hadn’t planned to mention the Knights at all; she was quite reluctant to tell their story. But, if what she had told her was true, then she, Katie, was a champion, chosen by one of The Knights of St. Christopher. Salvador said that The Knights were an organization created many years ago by a Grand Magus to fight corruption in The Order and protect humanity from harm caused by evil magic, but in reality they were just helping to hoard magic and keep it away from the common people, until one day they decided to leave The Order’s service and fight evil magicians independently.

Katharine wanted to know more; wanted to know who the other Knights were and where she could find them. Salvador wouldn’t talk, though, so Katie had to look for answers on her own. Fortunately, among all sorts of things which Praxis took from The Order, there were many books. Everybody had free access to them, which Kate personally considered to be extremely careless once she discovered the ominous incantations some of the grimoires contained.

One day she came across a book titled ‘Magical Organizations Over The Centuries’, which looked promising. Excited, Katie ruffled through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

[[PICTURES SHOULD BE HERE - if you can't see them, try clicking on the links below, if you still don't see them please let me know! They're very important to the story!]]

[pergamin 1.jpg](https://zapodaj.net/30bc35b687448.jpg.html)   
[pergamin 2.jpg](https://zapodaj.net/40870c9f5781d.jpg.html)   
[pergamin 3.jpg](https://zapodaj.net/c677ada7a8d58.jpg.html)   
[pergamin 4.jpg](https://zapodaj.net/c47b8a9d32a00.jpg.html)

_Well, that was quite a different story!_ Of course, there was a possibility that the writer was lying, but Katharine had a feeling that the real liar here was Salvador.

Soon, she got another proof. Salvador said that she wouldn’t hear the ringing if the magic being performed wasn’t evil; but Kate heard it even when the others were casting spells which were supposed to be good, like healing incantations. She almost transformed in front of everybody, and Salvador had to knock her unconscious.

When she woke up, the Praxis’ leader wasn’t happy. She took her on an exercise session, and bombarded her with minor hostile spells, until Katie learned how to stop the transformations.

Something was clearly wrong.

At first, Katharine was all about Praxis; she heard of it from Mary, who had always been into occult and stuff like that. She didn’t believe her friend when she said that magic is real, but she allowed Mary to drag her to one of the meetings, and then she saw for herself. It was incredible, but real indeed. Later, she saw many more extraordinary things; people being miraculously cured, broken machines getting fixed with a single incantation. The whole organization was a little… well, _dis_ organized, and the learning process was one big mess, but still, it was exciting like hell! Katharine thought everybody would benefit if Praxis was less chaotic, but Salvador was all about anarchy and freedom. Except from the part where she was the leader, of course.

Mary would say that Katie was unnecessarily poking holes in it, and that all the grass-rooted initiatives are a bit disordered. But she just couldn’t help the feeling that something about Salvador was off. She wasn’t able to trust her.

And after the hide chose her that feeling only grew stronger, especially when the eruptions became bigger and more frequent, but they would still tell them to practise magic without sacrifices.

She started having strange dreams; she would dream about people she never met and places she never been to. After several such dreams, she figured out that it must have been the Knight inside her, trying to tell her something.

And then Salvador was killed, Alyssa was killed, and Nicholas, the leader of the California Praxis unit, came to Norwich ***** and started stirring things up, talking about how the werewolves are the biggest obstacle to freeing magic.

Kate still wasn’t sure what message her hide was trying to convey, but she had a feeling that the wolf inside her wanted her to reunite with the pack. So she decided to do just that.

She had no idea where they were, but she counted on the hide to lead her to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I assume Belgrave is in Norwich, Connecticut, because Hamish's apartment is in 'downtown Norwich'.
> 
> So... how did you like my little graphic surprise? Let me know in the comments! ;)


	7. Farewells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay then; technically, it's tomorrow already where I live, so I'll just publish another chapter :D  
> I had SO much fun writing it (even though it is a little sad), and I hope you'll have even more while reading it ;)  
> Enjoy!
> 
> PS. I'm quoting that exact same song of Andrew Belle yet again, I know; but its different fragments just fit this story so perfectly!

> _Nothin' goes as planned  
>  Everything will break  
> People say goodbye  
> In their own special way  
> All that you rely on  
> And all that you can fake  
> Will leave you in the morning  
> But find you in the day…_

Andrew Belle, ‘In My Veins’

Everything was finally ready and they could begin the summoning. Hamish shot a glance at Vera, who was standing by the window, seemingly more interested in the view outside. He felt sorry for her; she must have felt so left-out and useless… But that issue had to wait; it was time to say goodbye to their friend. He had made a drink for everyone and now they were standing in a circle, each of them holding a glass in their hands.

“Long is the road, short is the life”, intoned Hamish, and the rest repeated after him, clinking their glasses.

“May we meet again”, added Lilith quietly, and Hamish would swear he saw her eyes glinted with tears.

“May we meet again”, they echoed, and downed their drinks.

“I thought you stopped drinking”, Lilith grinned at him, loosening up the tense atmosphere a little.

“Well…” he glanced surreptitiously at Vera, who was now leaning on the window sill and watching them with a calm, almost bored expression on her face, “I make the exceptions for the exceptional people and exceptional occasions.” Lilith smiled at him.

“Alright, let’s do it”, she said, and they took their positions.

“Kayliah, we summon you to do our bidding, and contain you to this room. Appear before us!”

They heard a sudden whoosh and a second later, a female demon was standing in front of them.

Only she didn’t look like the demons they had seen before. Not that they had seen many, but still. This one looked just so… human. Her face was devoid of this unhealthy, blue tint, her teeth weren’t crooked nor rotten; her nails were normal length, and painted in a deep red colour.

And she was beautiful. Exceedingly beautiful. Her figure was perfect, slightly curvy but not a tiny bit overweight; her legs long and shapely, her shiny, black hair falling down on her back in waves, her skin brown with a golden glow to it.

“You… don’t look like a demon”, said Hamish lamely, and she raised a brow at him mockingly. She had been a little stunned before by the abrupt arrival, but she quickly gained her composure and spoke:

“Why not? Because I am…” she approached him, swaying her hips sensually, and stopped right before him. She was quite tall and wearing incredibly high heels, so she could look him in the eyes without raising her head “…too pretty?” she said seductively, touching his chest with her finger and tracing a line down his stomach, wicked smile on her face. Hamish swallowed.

“Too beautiful”, murmured Randall, staring at her, spellbound. Gabrielle huffed, outraged, but none of the boys noticed it. The demon laughed, and the sound of her laugh brought to mind an image of precious pearls scattering on the ground.

“Stunning, really”, added Jack, making sheep’s eyes at her.

“I can see why you became friends with her, Lilith”, whispered Nicole, her eyes like saucers too. Having heard that, the demon turned around abruptly.

“Did someone say _Lilith_?!” she exclaimed.

***

“Hey, Kayliah”, Lilith gave the newcomer a lopsided grin. “Stop playing your tricks on my friends, if you don’t mind.”

“Lilith, where have you been, kid! I’ve been worried sick!” shouted Kayliah and ran to the girl in question to hug her fiercely.

“Well, here. Long story, I’ll tell you later. But I need you to take me home, now. That’s why they summoned you.”

“Okay, okay… But how about we have some fun first…?” the demon proposed with a mischievous smile, looking at the charmed humans. The only not affected person in the circle seemed to be Gabrielle, who was watching the whole scene through narrowed eyes. Even Vera, who was standing in the background, was staring at the beautiful demon with some fascination, if not an outright desire.

“Kayliah!” said sharply Lilith, amused. The demon rolled her eyes.

“Fine! But it’s _boring_ ”, she sighed, sulky, and snapped her fingers to release the spell.

“You sound exactly like Hamish when he kept telling me not to transform and kill people on every occasion”, chuckled Lilith, watching as her friends were coming back to their senses, and laughing at their embarrassed faces. “Don’t say it’s not funny”, she whispered to Kayliah. “One could learn to name all different shades of red by just looking at their cheeks right now.”

The demon grinned in response.

“So, we’re going?”

“Let me just say my goodbyes”, answered Lilith quietly, suddenly sad and nervous again. She cleared her throat and asked: “So, a group hug?”

Her friends eyed the demon suspiciously, so Kayliah stepped back, rolling her eyes ostentatiously. Lilith spread out her arms and soon she was crushed in a fierce embrace. They stayed like that for a while, holding one another tight enough to leave bruises, and she breathed in their mixed scent, trying to print this moment in her memory forever. Eventually, they parted, and she kissed Hamish and Jack on the cheeks. She hugged Gabrielle briefly, and moved to kiss Nicole goodbye. Finally, she went to Randall and… kissed him on the lips also. Quite passionately, in fact. Gabrielle gasped, Nicole’s mouth fell open, and as Lilith pulled away she saw everyone staring at her with a little shocked expressions on their faces, including Randall himself. She didn’t care.

She was about to go, but there was one more person left.

“Magus?” she called, looking at Vera, who was still standing by the window. The older woman met her eyes. “Thank you. I wish you luck with getting back your magic. And… with other things, also” said Lilith. Vera nodded her head slightly and replied:

“Good luck to you too, Miss… Lilith. And thank you for your sacrifice.”

Lilith nodded. Both of them had been guilty of some things; there was no point in arguing who was more to blame. She didn’t want to leave any bad blood behind her. If she was to part with this world, she wanted to do it while being at peace with everyone. Well, okay, maybe kissing both Randall and Nicole was going to leave some bad blood… but hell, they would just have to deal with that.

She turned on her heel and looked at Kayliah, signalling they can go. The gorgeous demon nodded in acknowledgment and extended her hand. Lilith took it, and turned to face her friends for the last time. She was about to speak, when Randall asked:

“What did she -” he pointed Kayliah with his head “- do to us?”

“Oh”, Lilith grinned. “She’s a sex demon.”

“A sex demon?” repeated Jack.

“Yes, you can summon me to fulfil your deepest desires…” answered Kayliah in her seductive voice, giving him a lopsided smile.

“…but I wouldn’t recommend it”, interjected Lilith.

“Lilith! How mean of you!” exclaimed the demon with fake indignance, pouting.

“Oh come on, you know I just want you for myself” replied Lilith jokingly. Then she covered her mouth with one hand conspiringly and added in a scenic whisper: “I’m serious, though, guys. Be careful what you wish for.”

Kayliah snorted.

“Are you quite finished with dragging my name through the mud, dear?” she jeered.

Lilith chuckled and nudged her playfully.

“Okay, let’s go. Goodbye, guys. I will miss you.”

“We’ll miss you too, Lilith” answered Hamish, and the others joined in with their farewells.

Lilith took a deep breath and squeezed Kayliah’s hand. The demon got the cue and they disappeared with a crack, a few gold sparks floating in the air the only sign they had ever been there.


	8. How to Get Away with Murder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone still with me? Haven't I bored you to death yet?  
> You went a little quiet with the comments so I started to worry if you still like it.
> 
> PS. The chapter's title was taken from a tv series 'How to Get Away with Murder'. I haven't seen it, but the name sounds cool.

Kate didn’t know what exactly had she expected when she thought her hide would lead her to the other wolfs from the pack, but she hoped she will feel something. Anything. But she did not. She was walking blindly into the forest, and she didn’t even know if it was a good direction or not at all.

Well, there was one thing she could try… But what if anyone sees her? ‘Damn, if I don’t do this, I might as well wonder within that blasted forest for the next two weeks and still not find anything’, she thought. She lengthened the straps of her backpack so they wouldn’t get torn during the transformation, and she took her clothes and shoes off and packed them. Feeling like a total freak, completely naked save for a rucksack dangling loosely on the too long straps, she closed her eyes and wolfed out.

***

“So, Mr. Carpio, what do you propose we tell Maddox Coventry, hm?” asked Vera. Lilith and her demon friend left a minute or so ago, and everybody was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do next, so the Grand Magus figured it was a good time to force the insubordinate werewolf to face up the consequences of his actions. And now said werewolf was looking at her, an uncomfortable expression on his face. But, unexpectedly, the expression changed into one of triumph. She frowned, confused.

“Well… you could just tell him the same thing you told him when his father got sucked into that infernal book; you can say that she’s gone travelling.”

“You told Maddox that Coventry’s travelling?” asked Jack disbelievingly, looking at Vera; as was everybody else in the room.

“Well… yes. It wasn’t my idea, though”, she replied.

“Why would you lie to him like that?” asked Hamish.

Vera shrugged.

“I guess The Gnostic Council wanted to buy us some time to come up with a good story to cover Edward’s death; maybe find suitable remains of a body to have something to put in a coffin. After all, even though he was a bastard, he was also a famous billionaire and so called philanthropist, so some people would surely show up on his funeral, the journalists would start sniffing…”

“But now you have two deaths to explain to the boy”, said Jack.

“We? Oh, no, Mr. Morton. _We_ still have _one_ death to cover. The other one is on _you_. I could simply turn you in, Mr. Carpio, and tell everyone in The Order the truth.”

The young people exchanged nervous glances.

“But you won’t?” asked Hamish in a small voice. She looked into his blue, clever eyes, now clouded with worry. Careful to maintain her poker face, she pondered for a moment. Had she even considered betraying Randall? ‘Hell, _betraying_? Since when do I feel so connected with these damned werewolves to regard turning them in as an act of betrayal?’, she thought disbelievingly. Vera realised that she, indeed, hadn’t even _consider_ turning Mr. Carpio in. Instead, she instantly started to plan how to cover it up…

“No”, she responded eventually. “I won’t.”

Mr. Carpio looked as if he had been preparing for an appeal, and now was astounded he didn’t have to argue after all.

“Why are you so surprised? If I told you I would turn you in, you would kill me right away, wouldn’t you?” she said bitterly.

“Well…” – it was Randall’s turn to ponder – “…actually no, I wouldn’t.”

This time Vera was the one to be surprised.

“Because then we would have to explain death of the Grand Magus as well, in addition to the death of the Head of The Gnostic Council”, Randall added quickly.

“Ah, of course”, she smirked. ‘Well, we might deny all we want, but the fact is that something’s changed’, she realised. ‘And the feeling seems to be mutual, again’, she thought, remembering the conversation which happened in her office some time ago – it seemed like ages, but no more than a few months have passed since then – when she learned about their heist and she said she was considering killing them. Mr. Carpio stated then that the feeling was mutual. Yet both of them decided to unite against a more important threat; they, contrary to the majority of members of The Order, The Prometheans or even Praxis, could get past their grudges and see the bigger picture.

“Well, I’m glad we settled that, but it doesn’t solve our little problem” she reminded. “Any ideas?”

“We could say she ran away because she didn’t know if you’ll be able to stop the eruption and she wanted to save her ass”, offered Randall.

“That sounds like her”, admitted Vera, “but why would she choose to do that in such a moment? Leaving a kid on a parking lot, in her car?”

“Well…”

“We could say she planned a staged kidnapping; she paid some people to kidnap her in a moment she wouldn’t expect it, to make it look probable”, suggested Gabrielle.

“Someone’s been watching Fargo”, Randall grinned at the girl.

“Eww, gross! Don’t remind me of that movie! They fucking chopped a man in a timber machine! And besides, it was a totally different situation, a husband paid the kidnappers to-”

“Focus, please!” interrupted Vera, and Miss Dupres shut her mouth, her expression somewhere between ashamed and irritated. “This theory has a potential, but remember that someone will be looking for her; they’ll engage the police, probably. There are security cameras on the streets. First thing they’re going to do is check the cars leaving that parking lot, then track them down, then…”

“Okay, okay, we got the point”, stopped her Randall.

“We must come up with something involving magic, then. They won’t go to the police with that”, said Hamish. Vera looked at him, a spark of approvement in her eyes. She appreciated quick-witted people.

“Right!”, agreed Randall happily… and then all of them went silent again, because that new requirement didn’t make anything easier.

Vera was wondering if the problems to solve would ever end. Last year seemed like a constant stream of unfortunate events and impossible decisions. What was she going to do without her powers? Should she lie and deceive the others until (not _if_ ; she refused to think she may not make it) she retrieves her magic? What should she do about Maddox? Covering up deaths was one thing, taking care of an orphaned child was another…

“I think I might have an idea”, said carefully Nicole.

“Do share.”

“Remember how Kepler’s face looked after that Tartarus explosion when Bennet died?”

“Yes, she had those disgusting scales instead of skin; like she was turning into a lizard or something”, replied Gabrielle, wincing in repulsion.

“Exactly. How about… we turn her into a lizard completely?”

“Um… Nikki, I’ve already buried her”, said Randall.

“She doesn’t mean it literally, dumbass”, retorted Gabrielle patronisingly.

“Right”, continued Nicole. “I mean, what if we tell the others that Kepler was trying to reverse the effect of that Tartarus eruption and it backfired, turning her into a lizard completely? Like it did with those people who became puppies?”

“We would have to powder Maddox and his grandparents to make them think that she never showed up to pick him up from his classes”, Jack pointed out.

“That’s not a bad idea, but we would have to trace Kepler’s steps back and check if she’d seen anyone that day, so that no one can expose our lie”, noticed Vera.

“How far back in time does that spell you used when Drea was killed reach?” questioned Jack.

“Oh, no, that won’t do. It only allows to see the very last moments of a dead person.”

“Is there any other incantation that would let us look further?”

“Mr. Morton, we’re not dealing with the necromancy in The Order on daily basis. If such a spell exists, I’m not familiar with it”, retorted Vera, a little upset. Admitting to not knowing something always made her feel not good enough, but, on the other hand, she hated people who would rather come up with some bullshit and mislead someone, than admit to ignorance.

“Well, I know someone who’s pretty knowledgeable in this area”, said Jack. She furrowed her brows, confused. Who could this boy know?

And then it clicked.

“Oh, no, Mr. Morton, no way. Don’t even _think_ about that!” she shouted.

“Why not? She owes me. I spared her life, when I could’ve killed her.”

“And that was the stupidest thing you could do! You think she cares? You think she’ll honour the debt? Then you don’t know her at all!”

“Um, excuse me, can anybody tell me what’s going on here?” asked Randall, and the others supported him.

“I’ve been thinking about Renee Marand’s twin sister”, explained Jack.

“You’re not talking about that crazy necromancer bitch that was trying to kill you and Alyssa to get back the necrophone?” asked Randall disbelievingly.

“That exact same.”

“Jack, mate, you really don’t have the best ideas today”, commented Hamish.

“Oh yeah? Then come up with a better one!” spat Jack angrily.

“Are you sure you don’t want to meet her just because you hope she’ll help you resurrect Alyssa?” asked Nicole quietly.

Jack opened his mouth to deny, but he just gasped and closed it again. He gritted his teeth and got up to walk to the window, pushing his clenched fists deep into his pockets.

Vera was thinking quickly; was there any other way to learn where Kepler was before coming to pick up Maddox? The lizard idea was convincing, but if they missed something, it could blow up straight into their faces; maybe they should come up with something different?

“Randall, do you have her cell phone somewhere?” asked Hamish.

“Um, yeah. I switched it off, but kept it... Why? Oh, you want to check her call history?”

“That too, but I’ve been thinking about checking the localization history.”

“This is a brilliant idea!” commented Nicole excitedly. “But what if she didn’t keep the GPS switched on all the time?”

“That’s not necessary, actually. The browser and other Google applications save your history anyway”, answered Randall.

“But to access this kind of data you need a warrant, and you have to file an official request…”* noticed Hamish.

“Not when you have a cousin working in Google”, Gabrielle said smugly. “I can ask him to pull some strings…” she added loftily. Vera fought down the urge to roll her eyes. She found boasting about one’s family wealth and position disgusting. But, apart from that, it was a convenient coincidence.

“Very well. And I shall call Maddox and ask him if his aunt was supposed to drive him only on the way back, or if she helped him get to classes too. We would also have to move her car back to her apartment”, she said. She was about to call the kid, when suddenly Randall alarmed:

“Someone’s coming.”

Instinctively, she braced herself in case she had to cast some spells quickly… and then she remember that, _of course_ , she wouldn’t be able to do it anyway. God, she felt so hopelessly vulnerable!

Everyone stood up and waited, alert. She never noticed when Hamish managed to get close to her, and she almost jumped when he whispered in her ear:

“Hide in the basement.”

“I’m not hiding in a fucking basement!”

“Please. We don’t know who is this.”

“Exactly”. How would it look like if it turned out that it was someone not dangerous, but just someone they knew, and they saw her walking out of the basement of the werewolves’ house?

They didn’t have time to continue their little quarrel though, because someone knocked on the door.

***

Katie was standing on the edge of a small clearing, in the middle of which there was an old, wooden house. When she wolfed out, she just let the hide guide her, hoping the Knight would lead her to the right place. And, apparently, it worked… or it did not, and she was about to go and ask some random people “Excuse me, are you werewolves, maybe?” Well, there was no other way to find out but to try. She put the clothes on and approached the building. She went up the few stairs hastily and knocked, not giving herself a chance to change her mind and chicken out.

Her breath quickened when she heard the steps closing in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments always make my day, so don't be shy!


	9. The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments, they're really warming my heart <3  
> And you earned yourselves a new chapter ;)

> _Just because everything's changing_  
>  _Doesn't mean it's never been this way before_  
>  _All you can do is try to know who your friends are_  
>  _As you head off to the war_
> 
> _Pick a star on the dark horizon_  
>  _And follow the light_  
>  _You'll come back when it's over_  
>  _No need to say goodbye_
> 
> Regina Spektor, 'The Call'

Randall was first to get to the door. He opened it and they saw a slim girl… no, not a girl, a woman. A young woman, probably in her early 30s, maybe 31, 32 years old. She was petite, so she seemed younger at the first glance. Her hair was dark, chocolate-brown, her eyes auburn, and her skin pale, covered in lots of tiny freckles.

“Yes?” asked Randall after a moment of silence.

“Um… Hello”, the woman said, smiling shyly, her cheeks tinted. They exchanged confused glances.

“Are you lost…?” Randall tried to help her.

“Well, I hope not. Are you the Knights of Saint Christopher?”

They were stunned. Randall shot a surreptitious – or so he thought – glance at Jack and Hamish, and seeing them as shocked as he was, he took the decision himself.

“I’m sorry, wrong address”, he blurted out and shot the door at her face.

“Dude, if that wasn’t suspicious, then I’m a prima ballerina”, whispered Jack.

“Yeah, you totally are a spy material”, added Hamish. Vera felt her lips twitch in amusement.

***

Well, that was rather… quick. And awkward. And disappointing. And embarrassing. She should go.

She was already walking down the stairs, planning to disappear as fast as she could, when she stopped abruptly.

Yes, that was embarrassing, but it was also weird, wasn’t it? That guy didn’t even ask what the hell she was talking about, he just denied… She turned around and approached the door again.

“Hey! I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you!” she shouted.

No one answered her, but she heard some whispers behind the door.

“Please, let me in. I just want to talk. I mean no harm. And I have something important to tell you.”

Still nothing. Kate sighed and risked revealing some more information:

“I’m a Knight, too. I’m from Praxis, but I’m no longer with them.”

She waited for a moment, praying that these were indeed The Knights, not some hostile magic practitioners. The seconds stretched into minutes in her mind… and finally the door opened again. Only this time a different man was behind them. Taller, with blond hair.

“Come in”, he said, watching her closely. There was a hint of threat in his eyes; she tensed, but complied and walked inside… only to be pushed against the wall, the man’s hand gripping her throat. ‘Oh, _fuck_. And mum was always telling me, _never_ let a stranger invite you to his home!’, a thought crossed her mind.

***

Watching Hamish pinning that woman to the wall sent a shiver of excitement down Vera’s spine. God, how she wanted be her in that moment… preferably with no audience, though. ‘Shit! Get a grip on yourself, woman! What the hell are you thinking about? _Right now? Really?_ ’ she scolded herself in her mind, and made an effort to focus on the present situation.

“How can we trust you?” asked Hamish, still holding the young woman by her throat. She tried to respond, but he was almost choking her, so she had trouble speaking. Then, suddenly, her eyes went bright blue, she gripped Hamish’s fingers and bent them back, pushing them a little further than it was necessary to free herself, making him hiss in pain. She panted, and replied:

“You can’t. But if I were you, I would listen to me.”

***

They sat down in the living room, but none of them leaned back, everybody on pins and needles.

“So… you are The Knights, yes?”

“Yes, we are. But what makes _you_ think that you are one of us?”

“Well, after the hide jumped on me, Salvador told me…”

“Wait! You say that Salvador was alive when the hide chose you?” Jack interrupted their unexpected guest.

“Um, yes…”

“Guys, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked, animated, and the other boys nodded in agreement.

“She must be wearing Timber’s hide”, said Hamish.

“Oh, so I’m Timber! I was wondering which one of the Knights chose me!” exclaimed the woman excitedly.

“You seem to know quite a bit about us, for a newbie… What exactly did Salvador tell you?” asked Hamish.

“Well, not much, to be fair. She told me some basics, and taught me how to stop my transformation – after I almost wolfed out in front of everyone. I asked her where the other Knights were, and who they were, but she wouldn’t answer any of my questions. So I’ve done some digging by myself, and in one of the books they stole from The Order I’ve found a chapter about The Knights.”

“She probably has done more reading on The Knights than you have for all these years you’ve been living here”, quipped Jack, looking pointedly at the guys.

“Hey, I’ve been doing quite a lot of reading!” objected Hamish with indignance. “Since you showed us what we had in our basement.”

Jack snorted. Hamish could be adorable with this righteousness of his, sometimes.

“But how did you find us?” asked Randall.

“I transformed and let the hide guide me, hoping it will lead me to the rest of the pack.”

They nodded, thoughtfully. It was probable. After all, they too, after attacking one of The Order members, found themselves in the den, even though they had no memories of being Knights at that time. 

“What’s your name?” asked Jack.

“Oh, right, sorry. I’m Katie. Nice to meet you all.”

They figured it would be polite to reciprocate, and shared their names too.

“Which one of you are Knights?”

“I’m Tundra”, said Hamish.

“Greybeard.”

“Silverback.”

Everyone looked at Gabrielle expectantly, and reluctantly she spoke:

“Midnight. But I don’t identify with this insane bastard.”

“Careful, Gabrielle. You keep insulting him and he may take control again”, said coldly Jack.

“Careful, Jack, because if he does, you’re going to be his next target”, retorted Gabrielle, watching him through narrowed eyes.

“Yeah… we had a little… eventful week”, said Randall in an attempt of explanation.

“So, why did you want to find us so badly?” asked Hamish.

“Well, I wanted to meet you, of course. I have so many questions… I’ve been having this weird dreams for some time now…”

“Dreams?”

“Yeah, like seeing places and people I’ve never seen before. I figured it must have been the Knight in me, trying to tell me something. I thought that maybe the hide wanted me to reunite with the pack.”

“Guys, have you ever had such dreams?” asked Randall, but the other wolves shook their heads.

“No, but everybody experiences being a Knight a little differently. I, for example, never visited the collective unconsciousness like you two did”, said Hamish, looking at Jack and Gabrielle.

“So, you found us, congratulations! And sorry for not letting you in”, Randall smiled at Katie apologizingly. “How about we celebrate it with a drink?”

“Dude, we’ve just had a drink. And it’s only _two_ p.m.”, opposed Hamish.

“Exactly! P.M. – that means it’s afternoon already!”

“I’m not drinking.”

“You don’t have to”, pointed out Vera, smirking. “But you can make us some.”

Hamish raised his brows.

“That’s hardly fair.”

“Life isn’t fair”, noticed Vera, fighting back a smile.

“Fine”, sighed Hamish, rolling his eyes, and got up. The rest exchanged amused glances.

“Um… Thank you so much, but before we celebrate, I have one important thing to tell you.”

“Relax, it’s not like we’re going to get wasted after one drink! You can tell us in a moment”, said Randall.

“It’s rather urgent.”

Randall sighed and turned to Jack in search of support, but the other boy only shrugged. Hamish grinned at him as he sat on the sofa again.

“Well?”

“The other reason I came is because Praxis wants to kill me. And you” said Kate, and then she told them everything she had learned from Mary.

***

“But how do they even know what happened to Alyssa? It was yesterday’s evening, for fuck’s sake!” exclaimed Jack.

“Well… Are you familiar with the concept of a “hive mind”?” asked Katharine.

“Yes”, answered her Jack.

“More familiar than we’d like”, added Vera.

“So, the leaders of Praxis cells came up with an idea of using this way of communication; I believe Alyssa was included in this connection.”

“And you’re not?” asked warily Hamish.

“Oh, no. Only the most important, most active members of Praxis were encouraged to participate in the movement in such manner; also, it was voluntary – as everything, basically – so if someone didn’t want to do it, they wouldn’t have to.”

“One would thought Alyssa had got enough of mental connections after her adventures with The Sons of Prometheus”, commented Vera.

“Well, if they know about her death, they know about the _Fors Factoram_ too”, noticed Jack.

“And about the fact that you lost your magic”, added Hamish, looking at Vera.

“Wait…” Katie seemed confused. “ _You_ lost your magic? So… you’re the Grand Magus of The Order?” she asked, watching Vera with disbelief.

“Yes, I am”, confirmed the older woman.

“But… but I thought you guys separated from The Order and have been working on your own since then?” Kate turned to the werewolves.

“Well, yeah… We did, and we had, but...” started Randall.

“But we united again, to fight the greater evil”, finished Hamish.

“That’s a long story”, summed up Jack. Vera just shrugged.

“Anyway; do you know anything more? Like how they’re going to get at us? When are they going to attack?” asked Jack.

“I don’t”, Katie shook her head sadly. “I left as soon as Mary told me what she had heard.”

“Is your friend high in the ranks?”

“We don’t have _ranks_ in Praxis.”

“Oh I’m sure in _theory_ you don’t; but don’t tell me you haven’t figured that out yet: every revolution begins with ‘power for the masses’ and ends with ‘power for the few’, except these ‘few’ are different from the previous ‘few’”, noticed Jack cynically.

“Well… Yeah, I guess you’re right”, she admitted. “So, answering your question: no, she’s not.”

“Do you know where our inventory is?” questioned Vera.

“Oh… I know where it was the last time I went there, but now I’m not sure. They move it every few days so The Order can’t track us… I mean, _them_ … down. I can ask Mary, though. However, I don’t think I should call her from my phone; I’m already afraid they’re going to target her and try to extract information from her; everyone knows we are friends.”

“I can lend you my cell phone, if you’d like”, offered Hamish.

“Thank you”, smiled Katie thankfully.

“Kate, please tell me; do you recall seeing a necrophone among all the stolen magical artifacts?” asked Vera.

“A… _what?_ ”

“A necrophone. It’s a device which allows you to talk to the dead people.”

“It looks a little like the first telephones; it has a little trumpet-thingy that you speak to, and a light bulb which switches on when the connection is established”, explained Jack.

“Um, no, I don’t think so… I mean, maybe, but if anyone found it and knew what it is for, then I’m sure people would be queuing to use it! So, if it’s there, no one knows about it yet.”

“Can you tell your friend to look for it?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good. Now: lunch time. Everybody has an hour and a half to eat something and then we meet back here to work on a strategy”, commanded Vera, standing up. If anybody wasn’t happy with the magicless Grand Magus giving orders, they didn’t voice it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know I can never get enough of comments, right? Right :D


	10. Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> I have some not-so-terribly-good news for you: after this chapter, you will have to wait a longer while for the next part. I'm not abandoning this fic - not at all! - but there's so much action and plot twists to plan, that I need some time to sort it all out and put in the right order. I think you may expect new chapters in a week, or maybe earlier, I'll see how it goes (well, if you leave nice comments, then maybe it will encourage me to write faster, hahah).  
> And for now, enjoy this utterly VERMISH chapter <3
> 
> See you soon!  
> xoxo

> _You don't know about my past and_ _  
> I don't have a future figured out  
>  And maybe this is goin' too fast  
> And maybe it's not meant to last  
>   
> But what do you say to takin' chances?  
> What do you say to jumpin' off the edge?  
> Never knowin' if there's solid ground below  
> Or a hand to hold or hell to pay  
> What do you say? _

Celine Dion, ‘Taking chances’ (I prefer Lea Michelle's from _Glee_ version, though)

Hamish hesitated for a moment; should he follow Vera, or stay and have lunch with the pack? He was torn. He knew the guys, especially Randall, believed he was too close with Vera and that it was clouding his judgement. But it was not like he was the only one romantically involved with a member of The Order, and Vera needed his support right now – even if she would never admit it – so finally he decided to join her. He stood up and rushed to the door, catching up with her a moment later. They had been walking in silence for a while, when she spoke:

“Where are you going?”

“To a lunch with you.”

“Have I invited you?”

“No, I invite you.”

“Ah.”

“How could I call myself a gentleman if I let a lady pay for my lunch?”

“I thought a true gentleman would first ask a lady if she wants company at all.”

“Oh, pardon me, ma’am. Would you grant me this pleasure and allow me to invite you for lunch?” He gave her a lopsided grin, and she snorted, shaking her head, but she couldn’t stop her lips from twitching.

“Where do you suggest we eat? I would like to avoid bumping into any acquaintances.”

“Well, I know a nice place nearby… It shouldn’t be very crowded at this time of day, but I can’t guarantee we meet no one. Or, we can always just get take away and eat at my place.”

“No, that will be fine, I think. Let’s go there.”

***

The restaurant was called “A Cat’s Hat” and a wooden signboard hanging over the entrance portrayed a ginger cat wearing a spiky black tiara. Inside, it was warm and cosy: pastel, flowery wallpapers were accompanied by wooden, vintage furniture and cushions or openwork dividers separating particular tables, providing some privacy. Cassie showed him this place a long time ago, and soon it became their favourite dining spot, but since she died, he hasn’t been there. Hamish was wondering if Vera would like it. He hoped she wouldn’t laugh at it for being overly romantic. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought her here? If she did laugh, it would feel like she was trampling on his and Cassie’s memories…

“What a charming place! And here I was, thinking that this town has not a single decent restaurant to offer” Vera’s voice snapped him out of his musings. Her appreciation eased him, and he smiled at her.

“I’m glad you like it. Shall we take a seat?”

Soon a kind waitress presented each of them with a carte, and they set to study it. He made his choice quickly and looked up from his menu to watch her. She was raising her brow, her lips curled in amusement.

“I see you’re contemplating the names of the courses”, he commented.

“Oh, yes”, she smirked.

“I’ve always thought that whoever came up with them was pretty inventive.”

“Well, they definitely can be very helpful to a person who doesn’t know how to communicate on a date”, she quipped.

He grinned back, and noticed the smiley waitress was approaching them.

“Are you ready, sir, ma’am?” she asked courteously.

Hamish looked at Vera questioningly, and she nodded.

“Yes. For me there will be a… Sweet Addiction”, she answered, not turning her gaze away from Hamish.

“Anything to drink?”

“Sex on the Beach, please” replied Vera, finally breaking the eye connection for a moment and smiling at the waitress politely.

“Of course. And for you, sir?”

“Lady on Fire, please. And a Tall Drink of Water”, he said evenly, looking at Vera intently.

“Very well, I’ll be right back with the drinks!” he heard the waitress walking away, but he didn’t see her; he wouldn’t take his eyes of the woman sitting before him for a second.

“I thought you’d rather pick something spicy”, commented Hamish, glancing at the menu. ‘Sweet Addiction’ was a pancake stuffed with mascarpone and biscuits, glazed with chocolate sauce.

“Well, I think my life has been spiced up enough lately”, she said, giving him a crooked smile. “I could use some sugar for a change.”

He inclined his head in recognition, but said nothing, only leant back and kept watching her.

“ _What_?”

“What?”

“You’re staring.”

“You’re beautiful” he said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world; as if he couldn’t understand why would he ever ask for an explanation.

She cleared her throat, but stayed silent; apparently she hadn’t expect him to say something like that so openly. _Now, now_ – he didn’t think it would be so easy to make the tough Grand Magus be at a loss for words! He smiled smugly. But then he went serious again; he could only forget about their current not-so-happy situation for this long…

They got their meals and started eating, both of them lost in thought.

“Have you come up with a plan for getting back your magic?” he asked after a while.

“Well… I have an idea I would like to try.”

“Do you mind sharing?”

She took a moment to gather her thoughts, and started speaking.

“So, first of all, Alyssa didn’t literally _take_ my magic away; magic is not something that can be taken. Magic is a form of energy; an energy that is circling in the world and in every human being, and some other beings too – werewolves, leprechauns, demons… To practise magic, we need to initiate a connection between the small amount of magical energy that lies within us, and the huge pool of energy filling the Earth. Imagine this connection as two wires – one transferring the energy into you, the other conducting it outside. What Alyssa did was connect these ‘wires’ inside me – she closed the circle; she severed the bond connecting my magical energy with the world’s energy; she made the exchange of energy impossible. She locked it inside me, like you lock a cable lock on your bike; and she was the only one knowing the combination that unlocks it.”

“That’s why you asked Katie about the necrophone.”

“Yes. But, fortunately, it’s not the only way.”

“Let me guess: thieves know how to break the lock without knowing the combination…?”

“Exactly. However, the key to success here is to not just cut the cable; it would wreck any chances of recreating the connection; it must be unlocked, not destroyed.”

“I suppose the ‘combination’ is a metaphor only, and we can’t use an algorithm to guess it?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Then who is capable of solving such a problem? Is that even possible?”

“Well, I know a man who, I think, might be able to help. And I’d like to pay him a visit, soon.”

“What would you say if I accompanied you on this trip?”

“I suppose I wouldn’t object too much”, Vera replied nonchalantly, a spark of mischief in her eyes. “But now we have to go back to the others and deal with yet another upcoming threat of death.”

“That’s beginning to get boring, don’t you think? Personally, I’m more looking forward to deciding what kind of a lizard should Kepler become.”

“I’m afraid this choice will be limited by the pets store’s assortment” the woman commented, walking past Hamish as he held the door for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The restaurant is fictional ;)  
> Writing this chapter was pure bliss, apart from the names of the dishes - gosh, that was a pain in the ass!  
> Hope you liked it! <3


	11. I will be here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hi, hello! ;) Good news - I figured everything out (more or less), so I can go back to publishing (more or less) regularly. It won't be as often as it was before, I'm afraid, because I have quite a lot of other things to do, but the chapters will keep coming!
> 
> This one is short, but I figured you may prefer a short one rather than nothing at all ;)

> _Tomorrow mornin' if you wake up  
>  And the sun does not appear  
>  I...I will be here  
>  If in the dark we lose sight of love  
>  Hold my hand and have no fear  
>  'Cause I...I will be here  
>  I will be here  
>  When you feel like bein' quiet  
>  When you need to speak your mind  
>  I will listen_
> 
> _And I will be here  
>  When the laughter turns to cryin'  
>  Through the winnin' and losin' and tryin'  
>  We'll be together  
>  'Cause I will be here_

Alexandra Rossi (and many other singers, but I like this version) ‘I will be here’

“So, where does this friend of yours live?”

“Oh, he’s not my friend. Not exactly.”

“Then who is he?”

“A former Order member. After he left, he explored shamanism and various indigenous peoples’ magic practices. That’s why I think he may be able to help.”

“Did he get expelled?”

“No, he left at his own will.”

“And you let him keep his memory?”

“I’m sure that by now you’re aware of the fact that there are ways to neutralise the effects of _pulveris memoria_. And he was an accomplished practitioner. A Magus.”

“Why did he leave?”

“He… didn’t like the ways of The Order. He found our society corrupted and self-centred, and he believed the original mission was long forgotten by its members.”

“Original mission being?”

“Studying magic and employing it for the benefit of humanity in general.”

“Well, I can see why he came to this conclusion.”

“Yes…” Vera stared gloomily into space.

“Why did it take him so long, though? I suppose he must have been in The Order for a while before he became a Magus?”

“Yes, you’re presumptions are correct. Well, I guess that at first, he believed he would be able to change the state of things. That he’d be able to fix it, to reform it.”

“Like you”, Hamish noticed quietly, but Vera ignored it and continued:

“Idealism is a privilege of young people. When they’re young, they believe they can change the world. And sometimes they actually manage to do it, even if just a little bit, before someone convinces them that it’s an impossible task. But sometimes they crumble, overwhelmed by the fierce persistence of the old ways, by the insane determination of people fighting to preserve their privileges. And then a day comes when it simply becomes too much, and they break. They break and give up.”

“Which one of these two kinds of people are _you_?”

“Well, I hope I’m the first one. But I guess we’ll never know; at least not until I snap” she answered, her voice detached, her eyes staring blankly at the road ahead, avoiding his gaze. His heart bled for her.

They’ve managed to get to the den already, and Vera was about to walk up the stairs, when he stopped her by grasping her arm. She turned around and glanced at him impatiently. Her face was as an emotionless mask as ever, but her eyes betrayed sorrow and fear so deep, that almost painful to look at. He moved closer, taking her hand in his and caressing it with his thumb softly.

“You know that you don’t have to fight alone anymore, don’t you?” he said quietly, brushing her unruly hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear. She was looking down, so he moved his hand to her chin and lifted her head gently. When she met his eyes reluctantly, he continued. “I’ll be there for you”, he whispered. He was leaning to plant a kiss on her forehead, when the door opened and they heard Randall:

“They’re already here!” the boy shouted. “Um, sorry, guys”, he added more quietly.

It was perhaps for the best that Hamish was a werewolf, and not a basilisk. Because, had it been the other way round, his friend would certainly have been lying dead after the look Hamish sent him.

***

Hamish thought Vera would immediately dart away at this interruption, but she surprised him with taking his hand, which was still cupping her face, and squeezing it gently. She looked at him briefly, but long enough for him to see a silent ‘thank you’ in her eyes. And only then she slowly moved away and turned to Randall, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“I see you can’t wait to go for a lizard shopping, Mr. Carpio?” said Vera in a perfectly calm voice.

Apparently it wasn’t the sort of utterance Randall was expecting, because he froze with his mouth open, confused expression on his face.

“Um… Yeah…?” he stuttered finally. Hamish didn’t even try to hold back a nasty smirk which formed on his lips.

***

“So, did you manage to unlock Kepler’s phone?” asked Vera, as they sat down in the living room.

“I casted _Secreta tua revelentur_ , but it didn’t work”, Miss Birch replied.

“Well, she's said once she has two passwords, so you may simply try again”, the older woman suggested, and Nicole complied.

“It worked! Why haven’t we thought of that!” she exclaimed. ‘That’s a good question’, thought Vera ironically. Sometimes she wondered how many people in these room actually knew how to use their brains. She watched Mr. Carpio take the phone from the girl and start tapping on it, focused frown on his face.

“Okay. So, her calls history says that she called some folks in the morning… and then nothing. Do you recognize this names?” he asked, showing the screen to the Grand Magus. She scanned through the surnames and shook her head.

“These are not Order members. I suppose they are her co-workers from court. Or some friends of her, assuming she had any”, she sneered.

“Right… Let’s check localization, then.” Randal was scrolling and tapping for a while, and then he spoke again. “Assuming she always uses GPS when she goes out, we can say that she didn’t live the house yesterday before going to pick up Maddox. But it doesn’t have to be the truth; if she went anywhere and didn’t use Google Maps, it wouldn’t have shown up here. Gabby, I think it would be best if you called this cousin of yours and asked him to check her localization based on the browser data.”

“I told you not to call me Gabby”, the girl hissed through gritted teeth, but took out her phone. “Hi, Sam! How are you?...”

Vera thought it would be a good moment to contact Maddox and find out if Bitsy was supposed to drive him to classes too, and so she did.

According to information they gained, Kepler was in the shopping mall around noon, she had lunch in a café nearby, and then she stayed home until she left to pick up her foster-nephew – Maddox got to classes by himself; he stayed in the town centre after school. It appeared that Kepler spent enough time at her apartment to make some magic experiments. For once, it seemed they were in luck. Vera was thinking quickly, devising a plan for the next few days. Their lizard scheme was a bit far-fetched; they were relying on questionable data. She was reminded of a sentence she read in a book once: ‘if something may go south, it will. That’s why the best plans are the simplest plans; the ones that have the fewest spots where something can possibly go wrong’.* Well, that probably wasn’t the most comforting quote she could recall at this occasion… But they had little choice here; they just had to hope everything would work out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The quote Vera recalls comes from... a fantasy series for teenagers, 'Ranger's Apprentice' by John Flanagann. It's a loose translation of what I remember from reading this book a few years ago ;)


	12. Devising a strategy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After yesterday's short chapter, here comes a much longer one.  
> As always, I appreciate comments very much, so don't be shy <3

in the last chapter...

_According to information they gained, Kepler was in the shopping mall around noon, she had lunch in a café nearby, and then she stayed home until she left to pick up her foster-nephew – Maddox got to classes by himself; he stayed in the town centre after school. It appeared that Kepler spent enough time at her apartment to make some magic experiments. For once, it seemed they were in luck. Vera was thinking quickly, devising a plan for the next few days. Their lizard scheme was a bit far-fetched; they were relying on questionable data. She was reminded of a sentence she read in a book once: ‘if something may go south, it will. That’s why the best plans are the simplest plans; the ones that have the fewest spots where something can possibly go wrong’. Well, that probably wasn’t the most comforting quote she could recall at this occasion… But they had little choice here; they just had to hope everything would work out._

“Very well”, she started, and waited for everyone to look at her. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Me and Mr. Duke are going to drive Kepler’s car back to her apartment, and break into her flat to create an ‘after eruption scene’. In the meantime, Mr. Carpio will go to the pet shop, since he was so anxious to do this”, she sent Randall a meaningful glance, and seeing him blush gave her satisfaction. “Mr. Morton, you have to destroy Miss Drake’s phone; or at least delete the photo of Fors Factoram. And Miss… Kate, what is your last name, actually?”

“Lawson. But you may call me Kate.”

Vera ignored her suggestion and continued.

“Miss Lawson, I’ll ask you to learn where is our inventory at the moment. I would rather you became a member of The Order like the rest of us here…”

“All of you are members?” Katie asked incredulously.

“Yeah”, said Randall with an unhappy face. “The Knights of The Blue Rose,” he recited, a tad ironically. Vera decided to let it drop.

“As I was saying; I would be calmer if you, like all of us, pledged your fealty to The Order, but there’s no time for ceremonies right now. Besides, I learned that werewolves tend to ignore their pledges anyway, so I guess we’ll just have to trust you and hope you’re indeed on our side.”

“It’s rather hard to be on the side of someone who’s trying to kill you” pointed out Kate.

“Yes, about that; I suggest all you wolves go into hiding immediately after we end our little meeting. You’re not safe here; you should find a place where you can stay until everything settles down”, said Vera, and the Knights nodded in agreement.

“Where can we hide?” pondered Randall.

“I say dorms; they won’t attack us there, to many ‘civilians’”, suggested Jack.

“Right, because that stopped them before?” jeered Gabrielle. “Like when Ellie Taylor was killing random people one by one just to track us down?”

“That’s true… Somewhere secluded, than…” Randall was thinking aloud. “I know! We’ll go camping in the forest!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Camping?!” Gabrielle looked at him with utter disgust on her face.

“Yeah, it will be awesome!”

“I’m not going to sleep in some stinky tent with no bathroom!”

“We can find a place near a river or a lake”, offered Randall.

“Yeah, and you don’t have to sleep in a ‘stinky tent’, you can always sleep outside”, sneered Jack, making Gabrielle glare at him.

“My parents have a cabin in the woods which you could use”, Hamish butted in.

“Dude, how many estates we don’t know about do you own?” Jack asked incredulously.

“ _I_ don’t own it, my parents do. But they’re in Dubai now and they don’t ever have to know you stayed there, providing you don’t demolish it”, replied Hamish sarcastically.

“See? That’s a reasonable gentleman, knowing what a woman needs”, commented Gabrielle, smiling sweetly at Hamish and giving Randall and Jack a look of contempt.

“I’m a woman and don’t mind camping, actually”, said Kate.

“Me neither”, shrugged Nicole. Gabrielle looked at them as if they were a disgrace to the name of women.

“Good. Then you can put a tent outside; I’m sure there’s not enough space inside for all of us anyway”, said Gabrielle haughtily.

“I’m sure there is, if you bring some matrasses and crush on the floor”, opposed Hamish, giving Gabrielle a levelled look. “I suggest we meet at the temple in the evening, after we deal with things, and I will give you directions then.”

“Great. Now, shall we go back to the matters at hand?” spoke Vera. “Miss Lawson, I’d also like you to gain as much information as you can about Praxis itself. How many cells are there in USA or beyond; how many leaders; how many people directly engaged in the movement. Can you do that?”

“I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise anything.”

“Smart. Okay. Miss Birch, Miss Dupres – I want you to make me a list of members who were on Kepler’s side in our little civil war; who is against werewolves and ‘townies’, and also, on the other hand, a list of people who share our views. I need names.”

“Right away, Grand Magus”, answered Gabrielle.

“Yes, Grand Magus… but, may I ask, why do you need them?” asked Nicole.

“You will know soon enough. Everything in due time. But there’s no time for explanations now; we have more pressing matters to deal with. I will call the Gnostic Council and hopefully we’ll meet tomorrow to discuss the _unfortunate accident_ which happened to Keppler and the issue of Maddox Coventry foster care. After that, Mr. Duke and I are going to go to an acquaintance of mine who might be able to help me with recovering my magic. It will probably take a few days; two or three at least. During the time when we’ll be gone, you, Miss Dupres, will be responsible for closing any possible Tartarus eruptions, if they occur. I’ll demonstrate you how to use the Cretian loom to do this properly.”

Gabrielle’s eyes glinted in pride, but soon she saddened and bit her lip self-consciously.

“I… Thank you, Grand Magus, for trusting me with such an important task, but… What if… what if Midnight takes over again and I... won’t be able to do this?”

Vera sighed. Nicole wasn’t powerful enough to do that; Randall didn’t have enough skill; Kate was a rogue practitioner and she couldn’t trust her… That left Jack, who was like a ticking bomb at the moment… but maybe that was exactly the reason why she should entrust this job to him? Give him something important to do, a responsibility; something to keep him going.

“Well then, Mr. Morton, it will be your job to do it if the need arises.”

He said nothing, just shrugged. God, he was so irritating! How could he be so righteous and yet so ill-mannered? ‘Though this time, at least, his bad behaviour is somewhat justified’, she thought. He has just lost a girl he loved deeply… Even if Vera couldn’t fathom why he would love her. Alyssa would always put magic in the first place; how could he not see that? Especially considering his past; his mother had fallen for a man who loved magic more than anything or anyone else, and it led to her suicide. And there he was, her son: so determined not to follow his father’s footsteps, to avenge his mother… allowing himself to be used just like his mother did.

“Grand Magus?” spoke Gabrielle shyly. Vera was tempted to snap at her with a simple “What?!”, but she forced herself to reply politely instead:

“Yes, Miss Dupres?”

“Um… What will you tell the Gnostic Council, as far as Alyssa’s death is concerned…?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll simply tell them that I planned the whole thing and asked one of ‘my werewolves’ to kill her.”

“And that’s it?” the girl asked disbelievingly.

“That’s it. Haven’t you noticed that the Councillors are perfectly fine with murders, as long as the victims are not members of The Order? No, wait, this is not exactly accurate; they don’t give a shit about members’ death too, unless they’re some big shot, of course.”

Her bitter and completely outright statement apparently shocked them a bit, because everyone was staring at her in silence. But hell, she was past the point where she cared about sustaining the façade; she was sick and tired of pretending that The Order was noble, of defending its members and justifying their actions. ‘If everything goes well, we’ll have a new Order anyway…’, she thought.

“Thank you, Grand Magus”, said Gabrielle eventually. Vera nodded dismissively, her thoughts already occupied by different matters, her mind racing, analysing, estimating. Then, suddenly, Jack Morton disrupted her musings.

“Why won’t you just give Praxholes this damn spell? You’ve almost done it, anyway.”

Oh, no. Not this question again. She sighed. Well, she probably should explain it to them; once they understand, they will be more dedicated to the cause.

“Mr. Morton, do you know why drugs such as cocaine or opium are illegal?”

“How is it relevant?”

“Answer the question, please.”

He sighed, annoyance apparent on his face.

“Because they’re dangerous.”

“Not only dangerous; alcohol is dangerous too, smoking cigarettes is also destructive, and yet both of them are legal. What is different about drugs?”

“They can kill you fast”, responded Nicole instead of Jack. “One dose may be enough to cause death.”

“Exactly”, agreed Vera. “Fors Factoram is like drugs. The worst sort. If we were to give access to it to anyone, we would have to at least warn them about the inevitable, fatal consequences of using it, explain the mechanism of Fors Factoram in detail. But it’s better like it is; some things should remain out of reach. When somethings is available, people will go and get it, even if they know it will end bad for them. Some things are just too dangerous to be left in the open like that.”

“So… how does this Fors Factoram work, exactly? The only thing Salvador and Alyssa told us, was that it allows to practise magic without sacrifices.”

“Nothing allows to practise magic without sacrifices. Always remember that.”

***

Jack shot a glance at Gabrielle; he remembered last year events, when they were carelessly performing magic without doing any kind of sacrifices and things got out of control, resulting in their English teacher’s accident and their ethics professor’s death.

“Fors Factoram allows you to cast incantations without cutting your palm or your finger, but the price still must be paid. And it is paid – by your body; you just don’t see it right away. You see, magic is a kind of energy. One form of energy can be transformed into another, but it cannot disappear or emerge from nothingness – that’s why we have to perform sacrifices – to sustain the balance. Magic is the subject to the physical rules concerning energy. So, if a process initiated with a spell is an exergonic reaction, the spell costs less; if it initiates an endergonic process, the spell costs more. In other words, spells causing chaos, heat or light are “cheaper”, and the ones that cause order, organisation, containment – are more “expensive”. That’s how the universe works; it’s entropy.”

The Grand Magus was in full lecture mode; she was actually pretty good teacher, Jack realised. ‘That’s a shame she didn’t train us personally’, he thought. Or maybe it wasn’t such a shame after all; somehow Jack doubted she would be a patient tutor. Not that she would have time to school them anyway. He listened as she kept talking.

“Sacrifices can differ – in our tradition they’re usually bloody, but they don’t have to be; as long as the energy balance is sustained, all is well. The key is to figure out the exact amount of energy needed for the spell, and to come up with a way to provide it. We don’t have to do such calculations for every single incantation, because usually someone has already done that before, so we can just check it in the books and learn that for a certain spell we need, for example, two goats. Sometimes the only required sacrifice is manual work, performed through making preparations for the spell.

What Fors Factoram does, is draw from your body an amount of energy equivalent to the energy lost by making said sacrifices. And that’s exactly why it is so dangerous – it’s hard, if not impossible, to calculate how much and in what form will be taken from your body. How much do two goats stand for these days in human body currency? How much energy is drained by cutting your hand? Would the energy acquired by eating a donut be enough or too little? Fors Factoram takes the energy from the most available source; it may just wear you down, make you tired; but it may also stop your heart or block the flow of blood to your brain. It’s like a parasite, stealing your life force; only once it’s fed you may get the leftovers; you become a dog waiting for table scraps.

The good thing is that even if you perform Fors Factoram, it doesn’t mean you’ll have to rely on it for every single spell. Using Fors Factoram is like possessing a credit card – you can still pay by cash, if you have it on you. Performing incantations by making regular sacrifices is like paying by cash, and casting spells without making a sacrifice is like paying by credit card. Some spells are so complex and demand such a huge amount of energy, that performing them while relying on the Fors Factoram alone would result in instant suicide. _Excidium_ is an example.”

“ _Excidium_?” asked Kate.

“The bomb-spell – it can blow up the entire neighbourhood”, Jack offered an explanation.

“Oh”, Katie’s eyes widened.

Everyone was silent for a while, mulling over what the Grand Magus said. Jack was fighting with himself; part of him wanted to screw it all and give that spell to those Praxis lunatics so they would kill themselves, like they killed Alyssa.

Only they didn’t kill her; as much as Jack wanted to blame them for it, he couldn’t. Somewhere deep inside he knew that Alyssa brought that on herself… but he wasn’t ready to admit that. He wasn’t ready to blame her. He would rather blame Gabrielle. Or Midnight. Or himself.

“Okay, I get your point. Perhaps you’re right. I will delete this spell from Alyssa’s phone… But they’re going to come for it sooner or later, you know that. And what we’re going to do then?”

***

“Since when are you interested in making actual plans, Mr. Morton? I recall you saying something like ‘I prefer to improvise’”, Vera retorted. She was stalling; she wondered if she should tell them about her plan already.

“I’m learning from my mistakes”, he replied, spreading his arms.

“Well, one step at a time. First we deal with more urgent disasters. Speaking of which, let’s proceed with the lizard plan.”

“Should I buy something extra?” questioned Randall. “A terrarium, some food? What will happen to this lizard?”

“Don’t worry about that, Mr. Carpio. I think we’ll gift it to Maddox Coventry”, answered Vera. “And it would be quite suspicious if we bought the whole inventory for a completely unexpected, newly found lizard, don’t you think? Now, get to work. There’s no time to lose. I want to see you all at the temple by eight o’clock.”


	13. Hope against all hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Not much time for writing, lately, but I managed to put up this chapter somehow.  
> Hope you enjoy.
> 
> I'm also publishing on wattpad now, you can find me by the same nickname, if you prefer to read on that website for whatever reason. The story is slightly reordered and all 3 parts of the series are merged into one, but the content is the same. https://www.wattpad.com/923790208-picking-up-the-pieces-chapter-1-demons 
> 
> As always, I live off comments! <3

“So, who wants to go for a lizard shopping with me? Gabby…rielle?” asked Randall enthusiastically after the Grand Magus and Hamish left.

“Eww? Why would I want to go and choose some slimy lizard?”

“Lizards are not slimy! Reptiles are not slimy, amphibians are!”

“Whatever. I still have to go and get some stuff from my place if we are going to sleep in the woods for God knows how long.”

“Yeah, me to, mate. You may have lived here, but we haven’t.”

“I would go, but I’m afraid I have to get my things as well”, said Nicole apologetically.

“I can go”, spoke Katie and smiled. “I’m all packed anyway.”

“Alright, cool! Let’s go, _Timber_ wolves!”

“I think it was the first time his name-play was actually funny”, commented Jack after the doors closed behind Kate and Randall. But Nicole didn’t feel amused. Suddenly, she felt as if all her strength had left her. Getting up and going to grab some of her things seemed to be an impossible task. How could the others just… function so normally after all the things that happened in the last twenty four hours? Is it how going through a war feels like? When you don’t have time to mourn the ones you lost, because you have to move on, you have to run, to fight, or you will soon join them? But she would never join Lilith, even if she died… There was no hope to hold on to. No reason to live, no reason to die. She was in limbo. The only thing she felt was the dull ache in her heart, clenching her chest so hard as if someone was suffocating her. She glanced absently at Gabrielle and Jack; they were saying something, but she couldn’t register what. She tried to focus, but the tears which were rising to her eyes blurred the picture, so she closed her eyelids, biting her lip hard to prevent her chin from trembling uncontrollably.

“…how did you control him, Jack?” she heard Gabrielle asking. “What should I do? I’m so afraid he’ll take over again…”

“I don’t know, Gabrielle, I just did. I just didn’t let him do what he wanted, that’s all. As simple as that.”

“It’s not simple at all!” burst out the girl. “Every time I try to fight him down, I fall into this ‘collective unconsciousness’ nightmare, and everybody I care about, together with everybody I don’t care about, says to me lots of awful shit and it really hurts, and then I just can’t stand it any longer and…”

“Oh, poor you”, cooed Jack sarcastically. “You can’t stand some insults? I would understand if they were torturing you, but…”

“It is torture! Haven’t you heard about psychological violence?! Emotional abuse?”

“Whatever, Gabrielle. The fact are, you’re just weak. Midnight said Silverback chooses lame champions? The ones that let their emotions drive them? I say he chose even worse. If you hadn’t give in to your emotions so easily, Midnight wouldn’t have been able to get what he wanted. He chose you because you are to weak to defy him!”

Gabrielle looked as if she was equally likely to start crying, as she was to attack Jack with her fists. Nicole was just annoyed. Very annoyed.

“Will you just SHUT UP?!” she yelled finally. They looked at her with surprised faces, as if they had forgotten she was even there. Well, probably they had. “Jack, you’re not the only one who has the right to feel upset now, okay? You’re not the one who lost someone they loved! So stop being such an asshole!”

“Lilith is not really dead, Nicole”, said Jack coldly.

“Yeah, right, she’s not. It’s worse. If she was dead, I could at least hope I’d see her when I die. Only I won’t.”

“Well, had you made your move earlier, instead of blindly following The Order rules, you would have a few months more with her.”

It felt like he just punched her in her stomach. It fucking hurt. Because he was right. Because that was exactly the thing she was telling herself, the thing she regretted the most. But it didn’t give him the right to say it; everybody makes mistakes, right? Right…? Oh, shit. She just wasn’t be able to stand it any longer. She bolted from the couch and practically ran to the door, her last still working rational part of brain making her grab her bag on the way.

She slammed the door behind her, collapsed on the stairs, and burst out into tears, not able to hold back any longer.

***

Back in the house Gabrielle and Jack were frozen in their seats.

“That was mean”, said the girl quietly. “Even for my standards.” She stood up and walked through the hallway.

Jack hid his head in his hands and sighed heavily.

***

“You do have a plan, don’t you?” asked Hamish after they left the house and started on their walk to the town centre. She was silent for a moment, before she spoke:

“Do you believe in destiny?”

“Um… Sometimes I wonder… But, generally, I prefer to think that our lives depend on our choices. Why?”

“Do you remember how I told you that after I got accepted into The Order, I’ve been reading all the possible books about magic?” When he nodded, she continued. “There was this book I came across once… It contained a prophecy. A prophecy about a Chosen One, who will save The Order from destruction when the darkest of times will come.”

“And you believe that Jack is this Chosen One?”

“Yes, I… Wait, how do you know that?!”

“We were eavesdropping when you were talking to Jack, remember?”

“Ah, yes, of course”, she smirked. “I think he might be, yes.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Well… This prophecy is quite specific. It speaks about someone with a kind heart, who has been rejected three times, who has no mother and no father, and who comes ‘from beyond’. Jack fits each of these requirements. When I first decided to invoke him, I didn’t think about that – I wanted to give him a chance because he didn’t come from money; he wasn’t yet another spoiled brat from a snobbish family; he had good grades, and volunteering experiences. But Margaret, who was one of the Gnostic Council members back then, didn’t agree – she didn’t approve of his social background, obviously. A poor boy, an orphan living with his grandfather… I defied her, though, and decided to invite him to join anyway. The second time he got rejected was when he failed his test as a neophyte… But, as you probably know, Alyssa Drake defied me and secretly switched the powders, so he didn’t get his memory erased. And then he was rejected for the third time, when he wanted to stay be both the member of The Order and a Knight.

His social background definitely makes him someone ‘from beyond’, and he is an orphan. So, after you retrieved your memories and came back… I started to think that he may be the Chosen One indeed. What convinced me even more, was the only fragment of the prophecy I found incomprehensible at first – the last Chosen One was supposed to have ‘two souls’ – and since Jack is wearing a Knight’s hide…”

“Well, a lot of things fit, I agree. But it’s the same with reading horoscopes – you always find something that applies to you. And Jack is a good fellow, but this one thing he said today… About bringing death everywhere he goes… That was kind of true, sadly.”

“I know.”

“But, even assuming that the prophecy is true, I doubt you’re plan is based solely on waiting for another of Jack’s crazy ideas, am I right?”

“Of course! I do not trust in destiny _this_ much. But it’s comforting to believe that if my plan fails, which is, unfortunately, highly probable, then there will still be another chance…” she trailed off.

“Then what is plan A?”

“I want to organize a convention of all the higher Order members from the US. That would include all Magus and Magistratus level practitioners, and, of course, all the Adepti. The Gnostic Council consists of a bunch of extremely greedy and extremely wealthy people, who only care about maintaining the convenient status quo; fighting with them is pointless. That’s why I want to present the issue to a broader audience. I want to propose some significant reforms. I want The Order to start to accept people from all social backgrounds, based on their moralities and intellectual capabilities. I want to make working on ways to use magic to benefit the general population our main goal, as it was supposed to be at the very beginning. It would eliminate the reason for existence of societies like Praxis.”

“Wow, that’s… That’s great, but do you really think they’re going to simply accept it?”

“Oh no, nothing simple about that… But I believe that, paradoxically, Praxis gave us a chance. This movement, the eruptions, the theft… it shook things up. And after Bennett died, and now Kepler – supposedly – died for the same reason, the Council and the others won’t have any other choice but to realise that the threat is real. Just like the Prometheans did. We _must_ adapt to survive. There’s really no other option. Also, not everyone in The Order is happy about how the things are. And, I still have the Imperium.”

“Well, even if it does work… What about Praxis itself? Do you think they will just let it go? That they will patiently stand by and wait for The Order to evolve and, eventually, let them in? And, what’s more, probably not all of them?”

“You’re right, they won’t. That’s why we need to speed things up.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“I want to invite Praxis members to this convention too.”

“Have you gone insane?!”

“Watch your tongue, disciple!”

“I’m merely performing my duty as a Knight.”

“Your duty?”

“Controlling the Grand Magus.”

She puffed, exasperated. That _was_ his duty, alright. But it didn’t mean she would let him win this banter.

“The only place where you can – _sometimes_ – control me, is the bedroom.”

“Oh yeah? And how about a parking lot?” he asked with a glint in his eye, and the next thing she knew, she was pinned to the wall, her wrists caught behind her in a grip of his one hand, his other hand leaned next to her head. She gasped, seeing his smug face mere inches from hers. God, she wanted him so badly. She lifted her head to kiss him, but he pulled away. “You didn’t answer my question, dear”, he jeered, smirking. Vera groaned.

“A parking lot, on occasion, is acceptable too”, she said through gritted teeth. “Satisfied now?”

“Not yet...” he answered and leaned over to claim her mouth. _Finally_! She moaned and kissed him back hungrily. He let go of her hands and caught her face with his palms, and she covered his chest and his back in rough caresses, scratching his skin through the fabric of his shirt. He moved one of his hands to slide it down her body, stroking, palming, groping every ounce of flesh he found on the way, until he reached her bottom and gripped her ass firmly, making her moan in abandon. She started tugging his shirt, pulling it out from his trousers, her movements erratic, her hands trembling from desperate craving. He set on to help her, but then suddenly he froze. She looked at him, confused.

“Someone’s coming”, he said quietly, and quickly adjusted his shirt, stepping away.

“Fuck”, she whispered, leaning back on the wall for support and closing her eyes. _Fucking people_. She wanted to exterminate them. ‘Why not, actually? I’ve became quite an expert at _Respondeo’_ , she thought ironically. She opened her eyes and saw Hamish, who was trying to make his trousers look less like a tent and more like a flat surface, but with no success. She couldn’t help herself and chuckled. He looked up at her and sniggered too, and soon they were both laughing themselves silly. ‘Like a pair of teenagers, indeed’, she thought. When they finally came back to their senses, Hamish spoke:

“We can always continue in Kepler’s car, you know.”

 _Well that was just gross!_ She winced.

“If you wanted to kill the mood entirely, then you just succeeded.”

He just grinned. Bloody bastard.

***

It took them a while to find Elisabeth’s car, black not being the rarest colour, but finally they did.

“We have to change the colour”, Vera said.

“Why?”

“Well, we don’t want anyone to accidently notice Kepler’s car being driven around town after her death, do we?”

“Good point. What do I do?”

She explained the spell to him and a moment later the car was bright red.

“Wow. How long is it gonna last?”

“A few hours, at most. Now, cast _Aperiatur_ at the door. You’ll be driving and I’ll sit in the back; it will be less probable someone recognizes me then.”

He nodded in acknowledgment and proceeded with the spell.

“So… what now? We don’t have the keys”, he asked once they were sitting inside.

“Take this”, she gave him one of the bunch of keys she carried. “Now cut your hand, press the key to the locker and say “ _Adapto_ ”.

Hamish did as she told him and watched with fascination as the key shifted and moulded in his hands.

“Cool! And how long is this one going to hold?”

“This one? Forever.”

“Oh, you won’t be needing that key anymore? Or do you always carry one additional key just in case you had to perform a burglary?”

“No, silly. I’ll be able to change it back later.” ‘Assuming that I will get my magic back’, she added in her thoughts. “It’s metal. Metal is malleable. Let’s go, I will navigate you.”

***

“So, we were talking about your idea to invite Praxis to the convention. How are you planning to avoid a mass murder that is inseparably connected to this idea?”

“Well, first of all, we need to steal our inventory back.”

“Right, because this will make them more amenable to your proposal?”

“No, because they will lose their leverage and they will no longer have the advantage over us. I’m going to give them an ultimatum: they can either try to attack us and die, or come and join us.”

“Providing that The Order members will allow that.”

“Well, that’s where a masquerade scheme comes in.”

“A masquerade?”

“I’m going to ask everybody to come in masks, the ones we usually wear at ceremonies and during major incantations. I will provide these masks to Praxis members too, the ones who decide they want to attend. I asked Kate to try and learn who the leaders are, and how many cells are there, because I’ve been planning to talk to them first, tell them about the eruptions’ consequences and about the Fors Factoram implications. Also, I count on the list Miss Dupres and Miss Birch will provide – I want to engage as many disciples as I can to make it run smoothly… Turn left at this crossroad!... I’d like them to look for an incantation that could secure the place against destruction magic, and, if it doesn’t work, to immediately react and tranquilize anyone who behaves aggressively during the gathering. Apart from that, I want to use the glove of truth at the entrance – to make sure that only the guests who are invited and have peaceful intentions will be able to come in.”

“The glove of truth?”

“An enchanted glove that burns your guts when you lie.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you seem to have this really thought through… It’s a long shot, but I think there is around 10 % or probability that it may actually work.”

“Thanks for the encouragement. Turn right now, then drive to that parking you see on the right, and stop. We’re here.”

Hamish did as she told him and a moment later he stopped the car and turned off the engine.

“I’m teasing you, Vera, but really, that is a well worked-out plan. You’re a genius.”

“I know”, she said, lifting her chin up.

“You know I’m teasing you, or you know you’re a genius?”

“Both.”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“But still, you’re probably right about the 10% chances”, she added after a moment, looking down at her feet.

“Don’t worry. Some people win those lotteries, don’t they?”

“Nah, it’s staged.”

“And who’s the pessimist now?”


	14. A Beast Inside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted this chapter to be longer, but SOMEONE (I'm not calling names, but she has ginger hair and her name starts with letter 'S'), was nagging me to publish whatever I managed to write before this eventful weekend.  
> So, here you go. This chapter is a little intense...
> 
> You do remember I very much appreciate a nice comment now and then, don't you? :D

> When your dreams all fail  
>  And the ones we hail  
>  Are the worst of all  
>  And the blood's run stale
> 
> I want to hide the truth  
>  I want to shelter you  
>  But with the beast inside  
>  There's nowhere we can hide...

Imagine Dragons, 'Demons'

Today’s meeting was taking place in a school auditorium; the movement had grown quite big, and with some additional people who came from Washington DC and New Orleans, there were a fairly large group, so they needed a spacious room to accommodate them all. Mary was shifting in her seat uncomfortably, watching the people settling down, taking their seats. It was weird to meet in a place like this; never before had they met in an auditorium; it would always be just a bar, a warehouse, a dining hall – it felt more equal that way.

Finally Nicholas appeared on the stage, together with two of his sidekicks. They stuck to the shadows in the back, and he took the microphone out of the stand and started strolling nonchalantly; he ended up sitting at the edge of the stage, his legs dangling in the air, a smug smile on his face. He was trying to establish a casual, ‘we’re-all-even’ atmosphere, but Mary wouldn’t fall for that. She puffed under her breath, watching him through narrowed eyes, careful to have her face shadowed by a curtain of hair.

“Dear friends! Some of you already know me; my name is Nicholas White. I established a cell of Praxis in Washington DC. Alyssa Drake, a right hand of our dear Salvador, asked me to come and help after Salvador was murdered by the head of The Order”, he stopped for a second to look around the room. “I’m happy to see so many of you here. But the news I have for you are not so happy; our lovely Alyssa, this fierce and devoted to the cause young woman, is dead.”

Nicholas paused for a moment, letting the murmur and whispering die down.

“Yes. She was gruesomely killed by a werewolf just after she gained access to the Fors Factoram incantation, which we all have been waiting for. Thanks to her commitment and brewing skills, I was able to see the whole event as though with our own eyes; therefore we know that the copy of Fors Factoram is in the werewolves possession now, and another copy is in the temple of The Order. This means our fight isn’t finished yet. This battle was lost, but the war we shall win!” Nicholas paused again, letting his words sound and giving room to some appreciative talk and calls among the audience. “We lost some of our great soldiers, but their sacrifice allowed us to get the upper hand. We have their magic inventory; the Grand Magus is powerless, her magic taken with Alyssa to the grave. The only obstacle are the werewolves; they keep crossing us and destroying our plans. Apparently, they’ve been also working with The Order. We were wondering how was it possible that so many raids were successful; now we know. Werewolves can sense magic. They can track us down. That’s why we must eliminate them. This is not going to be easy, far from it; this is going to be dangerous as hell. But if you feel you’re up to it, if you’re willing to face this challenge, approach me at the end of this meeting and we’ll work up a plan.”

“We must be more careful now, too. We’re going to move our headquarters and all the magical items to a new place; it will be a warehouse in the docks at the Shipping Street. In addition, we’re going to safeguard it by securing the building with a spell; each of you will be granted a permission sigil to enable you to access this new location. Please, step in line to get it now.”

People started standing up and moving towards the ail to form a line; Mary took her place too, and was tiptoeing down slowly as the queue was getting shorter and shorter. But when her turn came and she put out her wrist, Nicholas stopped the man who was about to give her the mark.

“No. Not you.”

“Why not?” she asked, acting surprised despite having expected it.

“We don’t trust wolf-lovers”, the third man, standing at the other side of the leader, sneered.

“I’m not a wolf-lover.”

“No? Then can you tell us where your werewolf friend is right now?”

“I don’t know where she is.”

“Liar!”

“I’m not lying!”

“Will you be willing to repeat your statement under the glove of truth?”

“I will”, Mary retorted defiantly, lifting her chin up. She was bluffing; she had no idea what this glove of truth did, but she hoped they would ask questions she would be able to answer truthfully without betraying anything about Kate. ‘Thank God she didn’t know where the other Knights live and therefore she couldn’t tell me where she’d be going’, she thought.

“Then come with me”, said Nichols, looking at her with a lingering threat in his eyes. “Brad, Derek, continue here”, he ordered the other two men, and gestured for her to follow him backstage. She swallowed, her palms starting to sweat.

They stopped behind the curtain, in a small preparation room connected to the side exit to the hall. She watched as the man ruffled through some boxes. Finally he emerged from between them with a silver, metal gauntlet, looking like a very fancy but not exactly practical piece of armour.

He approached her, putting the glove on his hand, and saying:

“You have nothing to fear, as long as you tell the truth.”

He placed the glove-clad hand on her shoulder and she jerked involuntarily. She tried hard to stay calm, aware that showing fear would only make her look more guilty, but her heart was pounding in her chest and she was sweating uncomfortably, feeling hot and cold at the same time.

“Do you know where your friend, Katharine Lawson is?”

“No”, she uttered, clenching her fists and jaw, in attempt to prevent her body from trembling.

“Do you know where did she go?”

“No.”

“Did you tell her to run away?”

“No… Aargh!” Mary bent in half, pain sucking the air out of her lungs and making her eyes water.

“Did you tell her to run away!” Nicholas repeated.

“Take this away!” she screamed, but he was relentless.

“Did you?!”

“YES!” she yelled finally, bloody tears streaming down her face. He pulled that horrid gauntlet away and she staggered, almost tripping down.

“And what am I supposed to do with you now, hm?” said the man in a calm voice, seemingly not affected by the scene before him. “You helped the enemy run away.”

“Kate is not an enemy! And she didn’t even want to become a werewolf! It just happened and there was nothing she could do about it! How can you compare her to the wolves cooperating with The Order? Of course I warned her, because if I didn’t, you would have killed her!” she shouted, her voice hoarse from pain.

“And now we will also have to kill you. One more unnecessary death, which could have been avoided if you had stayed on the right side.”

Mary had her heart in her mouth. How did it come to this? How the hell did she get into this mess? And pulled Kate with her? Oh God, she didn’t want to die like this… She needed to think abut something; she had to buy some time until she comes up with a way out of this.

“Are you seriously going to kill me because I wanted my friend to stay alive? Why would you do that? I’ve already told you, I have no idea where she went, and you know that it’s the truth!”

“Oh, but you still can contact her and help her, can’t you? We’re in the 21st century, there are cell phones…”

“She’s too smart to call me. And I certainly won’t call her.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if we intercepted your phone and tracked down the localization of every person who’ll be calling you in the next few days?

“Of course I would mind! This is my fucking phone, dammit! I use it!”

“Well, once you’ll be dead, you won’t”, said coldly Nicholas.

“Then why do you even ask for my permission if you’re not going to need it anyway?” she spat. “You’re fucking insane! You’re a dictator! I thought Praxis was about using magic to help people, but it’s all violence and war! I wish I never joined!”

“Nicholas, honey, don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit?” Mary heard a female voice and she turned around, startled. A classy woman, wearing very-expensive-looking clothes, appeared in the room and approached them, putting her hand, with perfectly done nails, on his shoulder. “I know you have our best interest and safety in heart, but is it really necessary to kill this young girl? All she wanted was for her friend to be safe, can you blame her?”

The woman looked more like a vixen than like a guardian angel, but at this point Mary would accept any offer of salvation. She watched, tensed, as Nicholas was mulling over her words. Finally he turned to face Mary again and spoke:

“Fine. We’ll take only your phone and you can go. But if I learn you’re helping Miss Lawson… I won’t be this lenient next time. Now, your phone.”

“Here you go”, she answered, pulling her cell from her pocket… and throwing it to the floor with all her force, causing it to fall apart, the screen shattered completely. Nicholas eyes flashed with rage and he rushed to pick up what left from her phone. She was praying it was broken for good, and she felt a surge of relief when he tried violently to switch it on but nothing happened.

“You bitch!” he yelled and jumped at her, and a second later he was gripping her throat, his furious, flaming eyes mere inches from hers.

“Nick, calm down. Let her go.”

“Haven’t you seen what she just did?!”

“I have; she destroyed her chance to contact her friend.”

“And our chance to track that damn werewolf down!”

“Well, she was probably right when she said Miss Lawson wouldn’t call her anyway. And we don’t want to kill everybody who does not share our views, do we? Let it pass, Nick.”

The man gritted his teeth, his anger still clear on his face, but he listened and let Mary go. Derived of the support of his hand, she collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.

“You’re lucky my wife has a soft heart. Now get off my sight. I don’t want to see you ever again!”

Mary nodded weakly, looking at Mrs. White with gratefulness, and stood up with an effort. She felt dizzy, but the adrenaline helped her regain her composure quickly and she scurried of the room, forcing herself not to run.


	15. Bitsy the Lizard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Celtic_Girl_Sima, since she's been very excited for the lizard shopping :D  
> I hope you have some fun reading it, after the previous intense chapter.  
> Starring: Randall Carpio and Kate Lawson. Mostly.
> 
> PS. I've been having an awful writer's block recently... Any words of support? Any advices?

“So, Kate, what do you do in life?”

“Um, well, I have an MA of Arts, painting and sculpture… so, naturally, I’m working in a café.”

“Oh… Have you been trying to sell your art?”

“Of course I have, but it’s hard to break through in this business.”

“Maybe you could try and switch to digital art?”

“You know how some people don’t enjoy reading ebooks just as much as they enjoy reading an actual, paper book? Well, I’m that kind of person. It applies to doing art too.”

“I see. Well, I bet you can do nice patterns on cappuccinos, though!” the young man beamed at her and she couldn’t hold back a smile. There was something appealing about him; he seemed to be an honest and fun person. She felt oddly at ease talking to him, even though they just met…

Alright, _alright_ , yes, he was also handsome. But, from what Kate gained so far, he was apparently in a relationship with the sassy girl wearing Midnight’s hide. Although, there was a chance that he wasn’t… It wouldn’t harm to check it, would it? It would probably be better if she asked the girl, though.

“What do _you_ do?” she asked.

“Me? I’m studying medicine. And being a Knight, part time.”

“How long have you been a Knight?”

“A few years now. Hamish proposed me to join after he saw me doing some ‘good deed’”, Randall grinned.

“What do the others do? And who is this black girl who didn’t say she’s a Knight? And why exactly are we going to cover up a murder by buying a lizard?”

“Woah, easy, man! That’s a lot of questions! I don’t even know where to start…”

“How about from the end?”

“The end?” his brows furrowed. “Aren’t you supposed to say ‘from the beginning’?”

“Well, yeah, usually, but I thought that the beginning is probably somewhere far away in time, so you wouldn’t know where to start anyway.”

“That’s… probably right”, the black haired boy eyed her appreciatively. “Okay then…”

***

Laura watched the weirdest couple she had seen recently enter the shop. They were both wearing hats and sunglasses, even though the shop was in the mall and the soft light was certainly not blinding. Maybe they were famous or something? Or just had a hangover? Though, to be honest, she never really knew why people in the movies would always wear sunglasses when hungover; she, personally, never found light irritating while being in such condition.

“How can I help you?”

“We’re looking for a lizard”, answered the boy.

“Anything in particular?”

“Something easy to handle and not very eager to run away?” suggested the girl.

“Well… I think I might have something just for you! Follow me, please!” Weird or not, these people wanted to buy a lizard! That was not a common choice for a pet, so she didn’t have many chances to talk about this wonderful creatures. And Laura _loved_ lizards. They were so underestimated! She led the couple further in between the shelves until they reached the terrarium area.

“Wow, Kate, look, these are so cool!” the guy called excitedly. “Oh my god, this one’s name is Bearded Dragon! Let’s buy this one! I’ve always wanted a dragon! Can it fly? Or breathe fire?” he asked, turning to Laura. His eyes were still covered with the sunglasses, so she wasn’t sure if he was pulling her leg or being serious.

“Um… I’m afraid not, sorry. But it does make a good pet. It’s friendly, it doesn’t grow too big, it’s not afraid of touch…”

“Kate, what do you say? A dragon? And a bearded one? A Bearded Dragon for a Greybeard!”

A greybeard? Were they buying this lizard for some grandfather…? These clients didn’t cease to confuse her. She saw the girl elbowing the guy and whispering something to his ear. She frowned.

“What does it eat?” the young woman asked. “I’ve been thinking about something with herbivorous diet.”

“Oh, well, then the choice is narrowed down considerably; most lizards are carnivores and eat invertebrates. I can offer you a Green Iguana or an Uromastyx; it’s from the same family as the Bearded Dragon. Iguanas are beautiful, but they tend to be shy at the beginning; Uromastyxes are usually more happy to be handled and touched. Just look at this one! Isn’t she lovely?” Laura beamed, taking Cleo (the manager had been telling her not to name the animas set on sale, but how could she care for her little babies not having named them?) out of her terrarium and showing him to the clients.

She expected some ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ of awe, but they didn’t come. The girl was looking at her with a not very convinced expression on her face, and the boy was apparently sulking.

“Um, right… We’ll take this one”, said the woman finally.

“I’d still rather choose the dragon. We would be cool together, wouldn’t we, mate?” the guy peaked through the glass of the Bearded Dragon terrarium with a smile. Jacob (the lizard sitting inside it) however, turned his head away in dignified ignorance. The girl smirked and Laura couldn’t hold back a grin too.

“Okay then! Let’s go. You’ll need a terrarium obviously, I would also recommend to buy some plants and a lovely hiding house…”

“We’ll just take the simplest terrarium, it won’t stay with us long. It’s a gift.”

“Very well.” These clients turned out to be not so fun after all. “A small terrarium it is. But please remember, that it’s only suitable for transportation. It will need a bigger one. And let me at least give you the list of suitable plants for feeding it. And some soil. And a water bowl…”

***

Kate and Randall left the mall and sat down in a park nearby for a moment. Randall obviously couldn’t stop himself and inserted his hand into the terrarium, willing to pet the confused and scared animal.

“Hello, little one! How are… Ouch! It bit me! Wasn’t it supposed to be herbivorous?!” He shouted, outraged. Kate sniggered.

“Well, it’s Bitsy after all, isn’t it? I think the name suits her right”, she grinned and the guy had to laugh at that as well.

***

“Mr. Carpio, I told you not to buy any additional stuff”, Vera commented in annoyed voice when she saw the boy carrying a terrarium with a full equipment inside it.

“You should be happy we’ve managed to stop the shop assistant from selling us artificial plants, a hiding house and a bunch of lizard toys!” answered Randall, putting the terrarium on the table. “And she has to eat and drink something; she’s supposed to play the part of Kepler, but she’s a living animal, after all! Wouldn’t you care for Kepler’s wellbeing after you found her in a lizard form?”

‘Well, I would rather feed her to some birds of prey’, thought Vera, but settled for not saying anything aloud.

“How about the other issue? Miss Lawson, did you manage to contact your friend?”

The young woman frowned, concerned expression on her face.

“I have not. And I must say, I’m a little worried about that… Her phone is either switched of, or broken. And it’s not like her to be unreachable for so long. I’m afraid something happened.”

“Can we send her the message the same way you were contacting me when I was a neophyte?” asked Jack. “Make a letter appear in her pocket or something?”

“We could”, Vera nodded. “But she won’t be able to reply to us in the same manner if she doesn’t know the spell. We can give her coordinates to your cabin, though”, she turned to Hamish.

“I’d have to check it on the map; I know the way, but I don’t usually learn the coordinates by heart… Speaking of which, are you all ready to go?” he looked at the team; they all nodded, gripping their backpacks. He stopped himself from commenting on Gabrielle’s wheeled suitcase; very practical choice of luggage to take into the woods indeed.

“Before we go, I shall demonstrate the proper use of the Cretian loom, as we discussed before. Mr. Morton, Miss Dupres, come closer. Everyone else, gather around. It’s better if you all learn how to do it, just in case.”

***

Mary was walking in circles, desperately trying to figure out what should she do next, when she felt something appear in her pocket. She froze, startled. She waited a minute, and when nothing blew up, she dared to reach into her pocket slowly. She felt a piece of paper under her fingers; she took it out and unfolded it.

_Mary, it’s Kate. Meet me ASAP. 41°35'N; 71°51'"W._

She googled the coordinates; it was somewhere in the state forest, east of Norwich. The sun had set already, so Mary decided to wait for the morning and take the first bus to Voluntown the next day at dawn. She would go the rest of the way by bike.

After mostly sleepless night she left her apartment discretely. Her characteristic, ginger hair was tied and hidden under a hood, and her eyes were covered by the sporty sunglasses. The streets were empty and quiet at this hour, so she should be able to easily notice if someone followed her. She was scanning her surroundings and turning back at every corner, but she didn’t see anything suspicious. She didn’t allow herself to breathe with relief just yet, though.

She calmed down a little when she got on the bus as the only person on the bus stop… And then it hit her.

How was she going to find the place in the middle of the woods with no map, no phone, nor any other device with GPS at her disposal?

* * *

Totally Kepler's face, won't you agree? :D

(source: <http://uromastyx.pl/en/portfolio_page/u-ornata-philbyi-2/>)


	16. In the woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! ;) Sorry for the longer breakes between the chapters, but I've been having a busy time now.  
> I hope this chapter will make up for waiting.  
> You know the comments keep me going, right? ;)

Calling this place a ‘cabin’ was a tiny understatement. The building Hamish led them into was a fine, solid, even if small, house. Inside there was an open kitchen connected to a spacious living room, in the centre of which there was a fireplace decorated with a huge mounted deer’s head with magnificent antlers. A small bathroom was next to the stairs leading to an attic, where there were two bedrooms. Hidden behind the cabin there was a woodshed, with some firewood stored in it. There was also a solid table, dedicated to butchering the game after the hunt.

Nicole looked a little disconcerted with the mounted animal heads adorning the walls.

“Do you hunt?” she asked.

Hamish smirked and answered:

“Me? Only bad magicians.” Jack and Randall chuckled. “My father? Yes, he considers hunting fun suitable for a gentleman. Okay. Upstairs, there are two bedrooms: the first one contains two single beds, and the second has one double bed. The rest of us will have to crush here, on the sofa or on the mattresses on the floor.”

“Shotgun!” shouted Gabrielle.

“Not it!” yelled Randall at the same time, and the two exchanged smug smiles.

“Well, I guess it’s settled then. The other bedroom goes to the Grand Magus.”

“But then one spot will be wasted!” Jack protested.

“No it won’t”, disagreed Randall, making a knowing face, “because Hamish will no doubt fill it.”

The man in question opened his mouth, looking uncertainly at Vera and wondering what to say. He was saved from this predicament by the woman herself, who slightly raised her brows and spoke:

“Great. Since everything is settled, I hope we can call it a night?”

Everyone looked a bit shocked, and Randall the most; apparently, he counted on embarrassing the Grand Magus and Hamish, and was surprised it didn’t work. He quickly recovered, though, and exclaimed:

“A night? We should at least play one game!”

“A game? What game?” questioned Hamish nervously. If he was going to propose ‘Truth or Dare’…

“A game of cards, obviously!”

“You brought _cards_? Seriously? Since _when_ do you even _play_ cards?” asked Hamish incredulously.

“Since always”, replied Randall with indignance. “Only on camping trips however, of course.”

“Well, I don’t want to spoil the game for you by winning every round, so I think you’ll forgive me if I retire early”, commented Vera with her usual poker face, and turned around to head to the bedroom.

It took them a while to realise that the Grand Magus had just told a joke, and she was already halfway up the stairs when they burst out laughing. She smirked.

***

Hamish excused himself after two games and went upstairs. He knocked gently to Vera’s door, but he didn’t hear anything. ‘She must have fallen asleep already’, he thought and tried to open the door as quietly as possible. He sneaked into the room on his tiptoes and was startled to see her awake, eyes wide open.

“Why didn’t you speak up?!”

“Mmm? Sorry, I must have dozed off. I’ve been waiting for you, though.”

“Oh?” he wasn’t sure if he should feel flattered or worried. There was no way to tell with this woman.

“Is there any place somewhere here where I can catch internet connection?”

“Umm, no, there isn’t. What did you expect from a cabin in the middle of the forest?”

“Well, we’re in the US, not New Zealand.”

“Sorry, milady”, he replied sarcastically, and she raised her brow warningly. “What did you need the internet for, anyway?”

“I was hoping to book our flight to the Corn Islands.”

“Corn Islands? You mean the Corn Islands in Nicaragua?” Vera nodded. “Why on Earth would we be going there?” he asked, shocked.

“This is where George lives. The former Order member I told you about. I was hoping we could leave tomorrow evening, Monday tops. But I didn’t have time to buy the tickets before…”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that, we won’t be needing any tickets. My father owns a private jet”, replied Hamish, looking down as if he was embarrassed to admit that.

“Hamish Duke! Is ‘Duke’ actually your surname, or perhaps a title?”

He smiled at this remark.

“It’s a surname; at least now. But, as far as I know, we come from some noble house of England.”

“Well, whatever your origin is, this is a really nice surprise. Who will be the pilot? Can _you_ fly the plane?”

“I tried once or twice, but I wouldn’t like to risk your life. No, a jet comes with a pilot, obviously. I’ll just have to make some arrangements with Sally, my parent’s estate manager. But since they are in Dubai now, the jet should be unused anyway; only the pilot may have some other commitments.”

“How will you call her if there’s no signal here?”

“It will have to wait for tomorrow. Besides, it’s 11 pm., I’d rather not bother her at such hour. Speaking of which, we should go to sleep. At what time is the Council meeting going to take place tomorrow?”

“At noon.”

“Would you like me to go there with you?”

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea. People are already frowning at our relationship. They think that my _infatuation_ with you is clouding my judgment”, said Vera, disgruntled.

“I know, that’s exactly what the guys have been telling me for some time now.”

“And how do you feel about it?”

“Well, I’m obviously too _infatuated_ to care. But hey, relationship? Is this thing between us a relationship?”

“Is it not?”

“So I can call you my girlfriend now?” Hamish tried to sustain a poker face, but he was no good at it.

“Are you trying to make me rethink what I’ve just said?”

“Not at all, honey.”

“Hamish!”

He beamed at her.

“Let’s go to sleep, babe.”

“Call me ‘babe’ again and I will kill you in your _sleep_.”

“How about a ‘sweetheart’?” he asked with an innocent expression. Vera tried to make an angry face, but her lips were twitching. “No? Okay. ‘Kitten’?”

She hit him with a pillow.

***

Randall and Gabrielle went upstairs, giggling and silencing each other on their way, while Jack, Nicole and Kate busied themselves around the living room to set up some sleeping space.

When Jack disappeared in the bathroom, Kate decided to take advantage of the moment.

“Nicole?” she started quietly.

“Yes?”

“Um… Are Randall and Gabrielle… a thing?” she asked tentatively.

“They… I guess they are.” Kate’s heart sank. “I think. But it’s complicated.” Nicole added, and Katie felt a new surge of hope.

“How is it complicated?”

“Well, I assume you already know about Lilith? The previous Timber’s champion?”

“Yes.”

“He had a crush on her”, Nicole said and smiled ruefully. “As did I…”

Oh, great. A ghost of an old love in addition to the current vague relationship status. She couldn’t do better! God, why was she always so unlucky when it came to men? ‘Or job. Or pretty anything’, she added bitterly in her thoughts. She might have been cheerful, energetic and witty on the outside, but it was just a mask. She was deeply disappointed with her life and considered herself a failure on so many accounts… Mary was laughing at her, saying that she was just going through a ‘mid-life crisis’. Well, turning 30 was definitely somehow unsettling (though she wouldn’t call it a mid-life crisis; she was past the point where she had considered people reaching 60 geriatric). She felt like she should already have achieved something significant; but she didn’t. The truth was – she was lost. She had been hoping that becoming a Knight will give her life new, meaningful purpose; but she had been stupid to think that. Each of them had their lives apart from being the Knights. And what did she have? A rented flat – yes, furnished and decorated with undeniable style, but still not her own; a job in a café (well, now she wouldn’t have even that anymore), a pitiful history of unsuccessful relationships and drawers filled with paintings, sculptures and projects of clothes nobody wanted to buy or exhibit. She was too ashamed to visit her parents; she didn’t want to hear ‘I told you so’; she didn’t feel strong enough to face it. But oh, she felt so lonely sometimes… She wished she could become friends with the other Knights, but it seemed that it wasn’t going to be easy either. Jack was lost in misery, Hamish appeared to be closer to the Grand Magus than to the rest of the pack, and the two others were into each other. It would be hard to make friends with Gabrielle while pining over Randall; not that she particularly wanted to make friends with her. Midnight’s champion didn’t make a good impression on her. She was unkind, fussy and vain; why would such a nice guy as Randall fancy her, Kate couldn’t fathom. But he did, and she had to come to terms with that. She was not a relationship-breaker, she had never been.

“Do you ever feel out of place here?” she asked quietly, glancing at Nicole from the corner of her eye.

“Yes... And no. I don’t know anymore”, sighed the other girl. “We were brought together by the attempts to save Lilith… And at first it was only that, but then I realised that I like the Knights’ attitude more than I like the views of the majority of members of The Order. The werewolves may be quick-tempered and reckless sometimes, but they’re also just and compassionate. And they always try to do the right thing, even if it’s not going to end well for them”, she replied ruefully.

“Like it did with Lilith?” Kate asked, suspecting the reason of the other girl’s sadness.

“Yes.”

“Well, I think it’s heartening that there are still people like you in this world; people who care and try their best to do the right thing. I bet you’re doing some healthcare degree! You’re so fitted to helping people. I would totally want to have you as a nurse if I was in a hospital!” Said Kate, trying to cheer her up. She really meant that, though. Nicole laughed.

“Well, unless you get turned into a cow, a dog, or any other domestic animal by an incantation which went wrong, I’m afraid I won’t be nursing you, sorry. I’m studying veterinary.”

“Oh, how cool! My friend, Mary, the one who’s hopefully going to join us soon, would’ve get on with you so well.”

“Why? Is she going to become a vet too?”

“Oh, no, she’s a nerd. Though a nerd may not be the best word to describe her, probably; she’s doing everything she’s interested in, and she’s interested in pretty everything. But she works with computers for a living; she’s super good in that. The reason I said you would get on with her, however, is that she _loves_ animals. She always says she prefers them to humans.”

“Well, I can agree with that”, Nicole grinned.

“Thanks”, replied Kate with mocked indignance.

“Oh, come on, you’re partly a wolf. That’s animal”, the other girl smiled broadly at her, and Kate laughed.

‘Well, maybe I will make some friends here, after all’, she thought, feeling a little heartened.


	17. Hard Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! ;)  
> I know it has been long since I last updated, but this chapter was a pain in the ass for me to write, because I was anxious to do the further part already. I hope reading it won't be such an unpleasant experience for you, though :D It may not be as exciting as the previous ones, but it was needed. Also, expect lots of good stuff in the next chapters... :D  
> I decided to omit Mary's journey to the cabin, because it wouldn't bring anything interesting to the story, but just so you know - she simply asked a random person on the street if she can borrow their phone for a minute, she checked the way on Google Maps and did her best to remember it, and that's how she found the pack.

The morning passed quickly. They were all woken up by Mary’s arrival. She filled them in about everything that had happened the previous day and shared the new location of the inventory. Everyone was pretty shaken up having heard the whole story, and Kate almost suffocated her friend to death by closing her in a hug – she still hadn’t quite gotten used to her werewolf strength. Hamish offered Mary shelter in the cabin and Gabrielle surprised them all by graciously proposing to give the redhead her old smartphone (which was still working, but a bit too slow for Gabrielle’s impatient taste, so she changed it for a newer iPhone).

The clock struck 10:30 and Vera figured it was about time to give the others the last instruction and head to the Gnostic Council meeting, so she spoke.

“I need you to get our inventory back. Whatever the means, whatever the cost, just steal it back. And don’t get yourselves killed in the process.”

“So… we may summon Zecchia again?” asked Randall.

“I’ll pretend I haven’t heard that. And I suggest you refrain from telling me how you’re going to do this. I prefer not to know.”

“Sure thing, Grand Magus. Consider it done. You can count on us!”

“Well, I hope you’ll live up to your words for once, Mr. Carpio…”

Vera felt a little bad for passing this burden onto these kids, but she had no choice. They were the ones she trusted the most, despite their colourful history together. And, after all, they stole it in the first place. Well, maybe except the part before that, where The Order stole the Knights’ reliquary… Anyway, it was the only way to make her plan work. A plan which, hopefully, they all would benefit from.

***

“I called a meeting, because there are several important matters we must immediately address. First of which is this”, spoke Vera, pointing at the terrarium holding a green lizard, which everyone had been eying curiously from the very beginning of their meeting. “You must be wondering why Elisabeth Kepler isn’t with us today. Well, you’re probably going to be even more surprised when I tell you that actually, she is. She is right here”, said Vera, looking at the reptile and pausing for a moment to let her words sink in. There was a long while of confused silence in the room, until Bradley spoke.

“You’re telling us that she’s turned into a fucking lizard?”

“Congratulations on your deduction skills, Calloway.”

“How the hell did it happen?!”

“I don’t know for sure; I found the lizard in Bitsy’s locked apartment, together with a heap of discarded clothes in front of a mirror on the floor. I went to check on her, because Maddox Coventry called me and said his aunt wasn’t there to pick him up after his fencing classes. She didn’t answer my calls, so I decided to go to her flat. It may be some delayed effect of the Tartarus eruption, the one that caused Bennett’s death and left Kepler with her face covered in scales. I guess the transformation might have completed. But I think the more probable version is that she was trying to reverse it and it backfired. Whatever the reason was, it happened. And it leaves us with a problem to solve – Maddox Coventry. He’s currently staying at his grandparents’, but some long-term solution has to be devised. The custody matter must be dealt with. We cannot keep the kid in the dark forever. He has a right to know what happened to his father and to his aunt. You wanted to find a convincing cause of death and a body to bury – I suggest you do it promptly. No time like now.”

“You don’t want to modify the boy’s memory? What if he talks?”

“He’s 13, not 5. I think he’s able to keep a secret. And I think it would do him good to learn about the dangers of magic.”

“Who will break the news to him?” asked Carrow quietly. She was probably the only person who Vera honestly liked – to some extent, at least. She was kind, but also cowardly and shy, and therefore not a tremendously valuable ally. The Grand Magus fought the urge to roll her eyes and sigh.

“I will. I will do this today. And if anything in the boy’s behaviour makes me uncertain if letting him keep his memory was a good idea, I will act on that. But whatever happens to his memories, he’s still underaged and the custody over him must be granted to somebody. We cannot stall any longer. So, who is going to take care of Edward’s death feigning? Any volunteers?” She barely even paused, sure there wouldn’t be any. And she was right, of course: everyone was avoiding her gaze. So she decided to grant the task to her least favourite council members. “How about Calloway and Evans?” the pair in question looked at her with unhappy faces, Bradley opening his mouth in attempt to say something, but she didn’t let them utter a single word. “Perfect, thank you. Now, let us move one to another issue, far more important. Praxis.”

“I’ve thought that had been dealt with?”

“Temporarily, it has. But if you thought that closing one eruption hole and using the wolves to kill Alyssa Drake was going to do the trick, you were wrong. The Praxis is still operating and it’s only a matter of time how long will it take before they start causing more eruptions.”

“Why don’t just give them the Fors Factoram?”

“You really think this is a solution? The movement will be growing. They’re going to “give magic” to more and more people, with no proper explanations, no warnings. Thousands of people will be carelessly using the Fors Factoram and killing themselves. We can’t allow that. This is out of the question! Also, do you want our inventory, our years’ work to remain in the enemy’s possession?”

“So, what do you suggest we do?” asked McKinley in a sulking tone. She was obviously annoyed that their Grand Magus had everything planned in advance and was basically informing them of her intentions, not really opening a discussion.

“First of all, we get our inventory back. This should prove to be easier now, since I happen to have gained an unexpected asset; an inside man inside Praxis. Well, a woman, or even two of them, to be specific.” Vera smirked inwardly, seeing their surprised faces. “Do you remember Lilith Bathory, whose sacrifice saved us from performing the _Excidium_ to ban Rogwan?” She saw them wincing at the word ‘sacrifice’, but pretended to not notice it. “It turned out that with her descent to the demon realm, the werewolf hide left her and found another champion. And since the Knight’s lockers were in Praxis’ possession back then… You can guess the rest. Anyway, the new Knight, Kate Lawson, found the other members of the pack and brought some revolutionary news with her. It appears that the Praxis leaders aim to kill all the werewolves, including Miss Lawson herself, so she ran away. Apparently they figured out that the werewolves can sense magic, and they decided that they are our most powerful weapon.” Vera couldn’t hold back a triumphant smirk seeing the Council members defeated faces. ‘I told you so’, her eyes shouted. ‘You stuffed up, xenophobic wolves haters.’ She tried to silence a shy voice reminding her that she would have never made a decision to induct the Knights if Alyssa Drake hadn’t been so persistent to convince her… Vera felt that pang of guilt again; wasn’t it her fault that this driven, hardworking, kind girl lost herself so badly and turned to the enemy’s side…?

“The other inside woman is Miss Lawson’s friend; she provided us with the information about the next Praxis’ location; they are to move the inventory to this new place soon. However, their warehouses will be better secured from now on; one would need the access sigil to get into unharmed.”

“But that shouldn’t be an issue, thanks to these inside men you’re talking about?”

“I’m afraid it is; they are both hiding now, since Praxis’ radicals want them dead. But I left the Knights to this task. They stole our inventory in the first place, so it’s only fair they are the ones to steal it back.”

“How can you trust them with this?!”

“How can _you_ still _not_ trust them, after all they’ve done for The Order in the last few months?! I’m fed up with your ridiculous prejudices! Besides, may I remind you I still have the right of Imperium? I could just as well not tell you a single thing of my plans, since the time is of essence and there’s no room for nonsense quarrels right now. But I am not Edward Coventry, so I’m telling you. In fact, I intend to do even more. I want to organise a convention; a gathering of all the higher members of The Order temples in The USA.” Her words were met with gasps of surprise and wide open eyes. “Those lower in ranks will be free to come too, if they wish. What we’re facing now, is a far more serious crisis then we thought. Praxis is growing and spreading all over the country. They’re in Washington DC, in New Orleans, in California. Everywhere where are temples are. It’s only a matter of time before they decide that ‘magic for the masses’ isn’t enough; they will want to bring us down. After all, this is what the revolution is always about, isn’t it? The elites must be eliminated… And we can’t let that happen. So it’s about time we all meet and discuss it together. Devise a strategy.” The Council members were hesitant at first, but now Vera could see them nodding. “I’d like you to make the arrangements and inform our fellow practitioners. I want the gathering to take place on Friday evening. Formal dress code, together with the masks and robes. I want everyone’s opinion to be respected and judged on the base of their rank, not their family name. I thought we could use the university Great Hall, since the temple doesn’t have enough space for this many people, but if you come up with another venue, feel free to suggest it. I’ll be out of town for the next two or three days, but if the need arises, you can call me. Any questions? No? Perfect. I guess we have it all covered. You can employ my acolytes to help with the preparations, of course.”

“What will we do with Kepler?”

“Oh, I’ve been planning to give her to Maddox, as a pet.”

“Are we not going to try and turn her back into a human?”

“Oh, by all means, if you want to try, please do! I, however, am not going to risk being turned into a lizard, a puppy, or any other animal for that matter.”

The man who asked the question closed his mouth and stayed quiet, an uncomfortable expression on his face. ‘Thought so’, smirked Vera in her mind. When no one else spoke, she said:

“I guess the meeting is over then. Thank you for coming. Please hurry with the arrangements.”

She waited until the last of them left. She couldn’t allow them to see she was not able to open the door, not to mention levitating the damn terrarium out of her office.

***

Vera was sitting in Mr. and Mrs. Dimas’ living room. After a slight modification to their and Maddox’s memory, including making them believe that Elizabeth Kepler never arrived to pick up the boy, the time came to break the news to them.

“Mrs. Dimas, Mr. Dimas, as far as I know, you’re aware of your son’s in law dealings with magic; am I right?” Their grim nods was all the confirmation she needed. “Then I can speak freely. Maddox, I am sorry to tell you, but your aunt… She turned into a lizard. An incantation must have gone wrong… And I’m afraid this is irreversible. I brought her, she’s in my car… Do you want to see her?”

The kid was staring at her with big eyes, apparently struggling with processing this ridiculously weird piece of information. Finally he nodded, tentatively.

“Okay. We will go get her in a minute, alright? But I want to talk to you about something else first. This is not going to be nice either, I’m sorry”, Vera sighed. God, no matter how much she hated Edward, her heart was aching for the boy. To drop two bombs like this at once… She worried how he would get through it. But she herself insisted on telling him everything as soon as possible, so there was no going back now. “Do you remember the old book your father was working with before he left?” she started softly.

“The one that a man came out of? The man who tried to blackmail my dad and threatened to kill me?”

“That exact one, yes. You see, Maddox, this book was extremely dangerous. It affected your father in a very bad way. It demanded from him that he kills his son; and while normally he would surely never risk your life, at this point he had been so changed already, that he was willing to do this. That’s why the boys, Randall and Hamish, took you from your home. You remember them, right? They took you to a house in the forests and gave you some comics to read.” The boy nodded, so she continued. “But the book was greedy; once it didn’t get the sacrifice it wanted, it claimed another one in exchange. It devoured your father.”

“It… ate him?”

“Not literally, no. But it sucked it into a different realm; it imprisoned him in the demon’s world.”

“So… he’s not dead?”

“No.”

“Then we might rescue him?”

“No, Maddox, we can’t. He’s in another world now; it’s not the same place where people usually go when they die, but the same rules apply here. You cannot resurrect people. And you cannot bring people back from another realm either.”

“So… putting aside the terminology, he is dead”, summed up Mr. Dimas.

“Yes”, Vera nodded. “I’m so sorry, Maddox. I’m so terribly sorry”, she said quietly, and touched the boy’s knee reassuringly; somehow she didn’t feel embracing him would be a proper move; they had never been really close. He didn’t even meet her eyes, just clenched his jaw, staring blankly at the floor. And then, all of the sudden, he leapt out of his armchair and stormed off the room. Vera followed his tensed, hunched form with an overwhelming sadness. Maddox was no skinny, in fact he was probably a bit overweight, but he seemed so fragile now. So soft, so vulnerable. It was breaking her heart. But in the midst of all this misery, she felt a surge of anger, directed at Edward, for putting this poor creature in such position. How could he do that? How could these idiots in the Gnostic Council support him?! She had lived long enough not to be surprised with human’s greed and cruelty, and yet it never ceased to amaze her… She just couldn’t grasp how it was even possible to be like that; she knew people are capable of horrible things, but she would never understand their reasons. She didn’t know what could possibly justify abusing animals or hurting people just to hurt them, or killing your own loved ones to gain power… It was simply beyond her comprehension.

She snapped herself out of these grim reveries, and turned to look at Maddox’s grandparents. They still had to decide what to do with their suddenly orphaned grandson.


End file.
